Despite his earlier excitement, Alex was the last to rise that morning. By the time he had awoken, the sun was almost at its peak and the smell of pancakes was filling his room. He could hear movement in the rooms below: chair legs being heaved across the tiles, plates clattering, something sizzling — no, burning. Judging by the faint smell of smoke, he had a good guess Cora was preparing breakfast. Alex shook his head as he climbed out of bed, resigned to the fact that his breakfast today would be either a plate of ash or a few pieces of toast.
He was halfway towards his bedroom door when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, still garbed in his torn and dirtied outfit of the previous night, undeniable proof that it had all really happened — that it wasn’t actually a dream.
Smiling slightly to himself at the prospect of what was to come, he grabbed a clean change of clothes and took a quick shower before heading downstairs. His high spirits dampened slightly as rivulets of blood streamed from his skin, pooling in the water at his feet before disappearing into the drain. It was a mark of how close he and Dusty had come to being killed last night, had Cora not been present. With a small sigh, he toweled off, groomed his hair and, with one final glance in the mirror to ensure that he looked presentable enough for their imminent guest, opened the door and made his way into the kitchen.
The environment was much more spirited than he expected it to be. After the tragedy that had occurred last night, along with how his father had seemed deeply upset by the appearance of the DSR representatives, he had expected to find them brooding at the table. Instead his mother and father were laughing at a joke Dusty was telling them while Cora toiled away in the kitchen, blasting an upbeat pop song and failing miserably to dance along.
“Oh, finally done hibernating, are we?” Cora called over the music, spotting him as he entered the kitchen. Dusty and his parents looked around and his father’s smile widened.
“I was just about to come wake you up. Dustin was telling us about the time you and some of your friends flooded Mrs. McCarthy’s living room when you were 10 and surfed around the room on her furniture.”
“What? Why would you tell them that?” Alex asked, staring incredulously at Dusty.
He shrugged. “I thought it would be a nice tension-breaker.”
“And he was right,” said their father.
“I don’t think — wait, you’re not mad?”
“Why would we be? It’s hilarious.” Their father guffawed, rising out of his seat to help Cora as she plated the pancakes, eggs and bacon. Alex looked at his mother, who shrugged as well, chuckling slightly.
“It probably wouldn’t be as funny if we’d found out back then, but in hindsight it’s definitely worth a laugh.”
“Hmm, fair enough,” Alex said, sliding into one of the free seats, and Coco immediately came to rest at his feet. Rubbing her snout gently, he looked around. Only enough seats for the present party. So that meant the Department Agent hadn’t arrived yet. Slightly disappointed, he sat down, watching as the plates and accompanying cups of orange juice were distributed.
He frowned as Cora handed him his plate, full of glazed waffles, crisp bacon and an overdone egg. Well, it was better than he had expected. He bit off a piece of the pancake, which was oddly crunchy, just as Cora sat down near the end of the table and their father took the seat beside her.
“All right, everyone’s here now,” he said. “We promised to have a discussion when we were all up.”
“Right,” Dusty said, standing up at once. “I’ll wait in the other room while you talk.”
“Nonsense,” said their father, just as Alex made to speak. “You already heard most of it last night, besides it’s not particularly sensitive information. You’re free to stay, Dustin. That won’t be a problem, right?” His question was directed at Alex, who was surprised he even had to ask.
“Of course not. He was there with us too, he definitely deserves to know.”
Dusty grinned as he resumed his seat. Their father looked pleased, then he turned to Alex and made a gesture to begin. “So… What do you want to know?”
“Was grandpa really a famous superhero?” he asked, the instant the words were out of his mouth. He had plenty more questions, but the topic of his grandfather was easily the one that demanded the most attention. His father looked at his mother, apparently deferring the question to her. She finished chewing, then spoke in a rather melancholy voice.
“He was. One of the best the Department had, although I didn’t fully appreciate that fact when I was younger.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighed, setting down her fork. “You both already know that your Grandma Holly passed away when I was very young. So it was just me and Dad for most of my life. He never wanted to remarry; he never told me why, but I think I knew the reason, deep down. Guilt, I suppose. For not being able to save her. But, you know, dead wife or not he was still a Hero, and he still had responsibilities. At least, that’s how the Wings of Sovereignty saw it — that was the team he was a part of. He never had that much time for me back then.
“We did resolve our issues later on, but back then — well like I said, I never really appreciated it. It didn’t seem fair that my father was more dedicated to everyone else but me, especially after…” She trailed off. Their father reached for her hand, holding it in his own.
A well of guilt sprang up as Alex realized what it must have cost their mother to bring up these memories. But she continued regardless.
“He gave me the talk when I was younger, about how I may have the Gene as well and could potentially develop powers too. But I had no desire to be a superhuman. After everything I saw, the way it stole my father’s life from him… I never wanted that, not for myself or for anyone else I cared about.”
“That’s why you didn’t tell me?”
“Alexander, you have to understand. This world may seem like it’s all diamonds and pearls, but it brings its own unique struggles. For your mother and I, we didn’t want to have to endure those kinds of burdens. And we didn’t want you to either. Unfortunately it seems the universe had other plans.” A look of pure bitterness shrouded their father’s face as he took a bite of bacon.
“What happened around the time you discovered your powers?” Alex asked his sister. “How did it happen? Were you in danger too?”
“Not exactly. It was the damndest thing, actually — sorry, Mom,” she said hastily, catching their mother’s eye as she looked around with a look that clearly said, Language! “Anyway, no I wasn’t in danger. You remember my friend Emily?” Alex nodded. “Well, around that time she was having trouble with her boyfriend, Connor. He was the sweetest guy around when we first met him, kind, supportive, always asking her how she felt and doing the goofiest things to make her smile.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, Connor apparently found himself blowing in with a bad crowd. He changed, completely. Almost unrecognizable by the next time we saw him again, after summer break. Then when we came back for the new term he dumped her right in front of the whole school — didn’t just break up with her actually. He humiliated her. Made fun of how she dressed, her teeth, which she was always insecure about, told everyone secrets that she told him and didn’t even tell me. I was furious. I wanted to clock him with my lunch box, but I could barely think straight.
“The anger completely clouded my mind. It was more intense than anything I’d ever experienced before, and then all of a sudden, there was Connor, soaring ten feet into the air and landing in the nearest trash can, which I may or may not have wanted to toss him into,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.
“I thought it was something completely random at first, then everything started going haywire. And I mean everything. Fire hydrants exploded, car windows shattered, students started levitating — everything was in chaos, except me. And when I ran off, it all stopped. It wasn’t that hard to figure out what was really going on after that. The DSR were quick too. I was running home because I was freaked out of my mind, but they caught up to me at the bus stop.
“They brought me here, explained everything like they did to you, and they stayed for a while to help me gain control of my powers until I left for Helix.”
“Woah,” Dusty said, his mouth agape. “That sounds awesome.”
“If by awesome you mean terrifying and deeply uncomfortable for all parties, then yes, awesome it was,” said Cora, holding up her orange juice in a mock toast.
Dusty flushed. “Well, that’s not really what I meant —”
“When the DSR agents came to talk to you, what happened?” Alex asked the room at large.
“What do you mean?” their mother asked.
“Well, I don’t know, maybe I was just imagining it. But it doesn’t seem like there’s really good history between you.”
Judging by the silence that came in reply, he supposed he was right.
“Like I said, we weren’t eager for ourselves or the two of you to be a part of this world,” their father said. “We tried to argue against it, but the DSR wouldn’t have it. After the destruction Cora caused they were adamant that she would be better off at Helix where they were equipped to deal with that kind of thing.
“Even after two months she was still struggling with her powers and the results were… well, now you know the real reason why so many of our old appliances would end up broken or disappear entirely. By that point we had no choice but to accept that leaving was the only option.”
Alex stared at them, open-mouthed. A quiet “Wow,” was all he could think of to say.
“Exactly,” Cora said through a mouthful of pancake. “Like I shaid, not fun.”
Alex sat in silent contemplation for a few moments. He wanted to ask something else but wasn’t sure what to decide on. Luckily he was given more time to think as they were distracted by the sound of the doorbell. Their mother got up, singing, “Just a moment!” as she went. Alex returned to his meal and the others did the same, but despite waking up with a roaring stomach, it seemed his appetite had faded somewhat. Approaching footsteps heralded the return of his mother, but there was another set of footsteps along with them, slower and heavier.
Helena Michaelson emerged into the room, followed by a behemoth of a man who had to duck underneath the doorframe to avoid hitting his head. He was broad-shouldered, dark-skinned and completely bald, though he had a neatly shaven beard lining his strong chin and eyes the colour of copper. This was no doubt the DSR agent they had been waiting for, although unlike the ones from last night he wasn’t wearing a suit, instead clad in a black button-down shirt and jeans, holding a grey briefcase in his hands.
“Everyone, this is Hartley Barrowman, the Representative from the Department of Superhuman Relations. Mr. Barrowman, this is my husband Jonathan” — the two shook hands — “my daughter Cora, my son Alex, and his friend Dustin.”
Cora and Dusty were staring at the man, dumbstruck. Alex was doing the same until Mr. Barrowman moved towards him, his hand outstretched.
“Mr. Michaelson, pleasure.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you too.” Alex accepted his handshake, his own fingers disappearing completely under Mr. Barrowman’s.
“So, regarding why I’m here. We’re going to be doing some tests today, to gauge the full effects of your Trigger Moment last night.”
“What kind of tests?” asked Mr. Michaelson, who was completely dwarfed by the other man.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Standard Department assessments, simple and completely harmless, just to see if we can determine more about his powers and how they work. That way we can come up with an efficient training method. Is there anywhere on the premises where we would be able to do that without attracting too much attention?”
“There’s an empty field behind the backyard,” Alex said excitedly, before his father could speak. “A few of our neighbours take their livestock out in the mornings, but aside from that no one goes down there. I know where the animals are kept, so we can just head the other way.”
“Sounds perfect,” said Mr. Barrowman. “No issues with that, I presume?” He was looking at their parents, who looked very much like they had a lot of issues with that idea, but neither protested. “Excellent. Lead the way.” He gestured at Alex to continue. He was only too happy to comply, but another voice spoke up the instant he stepped off.
“Maybe I can come too,” said Cora. “You know, to help contain a mess if anything goes wrong.” There was something in her tone that Alex didn’t like, a hint of mischief that implied she only wanted to come along because she wanted him to mess up and make a fool of himself.
“I think that could be a good idea,” Mr. Barrowman conceded.
“How about me?” said Dusty. “Can I come too?”
“Unfortunately not,” Mr. Barrowman said, firmly but not necessarily unkindly. “It’s too dangerous for civilians to be around untrained superhumans, the whole point of why I’m here is to mitigate that danger, not instigate it.”
Dusty looked disappointed, but nodded anyway. Mr. Michaelson placed a hand on his back and patted it consolingly.
“I should be taking Dustin home anyway. I promised his mother I’d have him back after breakfast.”
Mr. Barrowman nodded, then headed off behind Cora, who was making her way towards the back door. While Mr. Michaelson went to fetch his keys, Alex approached Dusty.
“Sorry, I actually wanted you to be there for this.”
“No worries,” he said, trying for his usual cool, cheery demeanour. “He’s probably right anyway. I mean, what if you tried to rocket around and accidentally set me on fire? I’ll check in later, that way if you make any progress you can show me without potentially incinerating me.”
“Deal.” Alex clapped him on the shoulder, grinning, and Dusty turned away with Alex’s father as he bid his family goodbye. Alex then turned to follow Cora and the waiting agent, excitement brimming within him.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
Nearly twenty minutes later, Alex, his sister, and Agent Barrowman were wading through knee-high grass, pushing through thickets of bramble and swatting mosquitoes and other insects away from their faces. They had so far been unable to find a suitable location for practice, but at last they came upon a small clearing, so far away from the house that they could no longer hear the sound of cars whizzing by.
“This looks like it’ll be a great spot.” Mr. Barrowman walked into the clearing and set his briefcase down. The siblings watched him as he sifted through its contents for a moment, straightening up and holding a red and black pair of sneakers. “Put these on.”
“What’s this for?”
“The Department informed me that you have an ability known as jet propulsion. Doesn’t make much sense to practice if you’re going to keep incinerating your shoes every time you try. The boots are made of a special material that can withstand the heat but also allow the flames to spark unencumbered, so you can fly freely.”
“Cool.” Alex grinned, kicking off his current pair of shoes and slipping his feet into the pair Agent Barrowman had given him. They fitted quite snugly and were more comfortable than they had initially appeared, firm but soft. “Wow, these feel great. Wait, how did you know what size I wore?”
“I don’t ask for the minor details, kid, I just do as I’m told. Now, we’ll start with the known first, then we’ll try to catalogue any unknown powers you may have. I want you to try to take off,” he said, stepping to the side as he spoke. Alex stepped forward and Cora moved to the left, taking a seat on the trunk of a fallen tree to watch.
“From the intel I was given, you apparently triggered your powers when you were under duress. Mentality plays a very important part in learning to control your powers. So, think back to last night when you were being attacked. Remember the fear you felt, the helplessness, the desperation to be free. Try to put yourself back in that moment, and then fly off. Now, concentrate…”
Alex closed his eyes to help himself focus, blocking out the sights and drowning out the sounds around him. He tried to do as Agent Barrowman had said, to remind himself of what he had experienced. It wasn’t very difficult, seeing as it all replayed so vividly in his head… He could see Shadow Shifter in his mind’s eye, laughing like a lunatic as he conjured immense, pitch-black weapons… He could see the weapons soaring at Wildfire, ready to hack and slice as the vines resprouted to capture them… he remembered the panic he had felt, the desperation as the vines ensnared him, choking the life out of him, as well as the urge to be free…
Alex felt himself move slightly forward and immediately opened his eyes, but to his disappointment he saw no flame underneath his feet. The grass looked perfectly untouched. “Did I do it? I felt myself move a bit.”
“Because you jumped a little,” said Cora flatly, her hand fisted against her cheek.
Agent Barrowman looked slightly disappointed but wasn’t yet deterred. “It’s fine. No one ever gets it on their first try. Do it again. Remember, breathe, picture back to last night…”
Alex closed his eyes again, trying to reconstruct the images of the previous night in as much detail as he could. He tried to remember the sights, the sound of Shadow Shifter’s gravelly voice, the mass destruction as unnatural flames burned around them… Nothing happened.
“This isn’t working,” he said, voice laced with disappointment.
Agent Barrowman was still undeterred. “Not a problem. Like I said, these things may take time, but that’s why we’re here. Instead of trying to focus on the bad last night, try to concentrate on something else. Don’t think about Shadow Shifter, or anything related to the destruction you saw. Just focus on the flames. Picture them gushing out from under your feet. The mind is a powerful tool, if you can wield that, you can wield your powers.”
Alex tried again, concentrating deeply. The image was set in his mind, a pillar of roaring orange flames ending in a ring of blue pouring out from his feet, igniting the dead leaves underneath him. But still he felt himself firmly rooted to the grass. Come on… Fly… Do something… Anything!
Alex let out a growl of frustration. But he didn’t stop. He continued to concentrate on the task, filling his mind with encouraging thoughts, visions of himself soaring through the air the way he had last night, reminding himself of the feel of the wind on his face and in his hair… But still no reaction happened, not even a spark.
Alex looked around, furious at himself, but his anger immediately ebbed away, replaced by shock as he noticed the expression on Agent Barrowman’s face: he was smiling.
“Tough customer, eh? No problem, I like a challenge. We’ll get back to the jet propulsion, for now I want to see what else you can do. Have you noticed any indication that you have any other powers?”
“No, all I ever saw was the fire jets.”
“Hmm… In some cases, abilities can be triggered by physicality just as much as mentality. By replicating certain movements, you could sometimes trick your body into activating the power associated with them. How about… super strength? That’s one of the more common ones. Try lifting something.”
Alex surveyed the area, then moved towards the closest log. Bracing himself, he seized the log by its rugged edge and tried to lift. He accomplished nothing except a burning feeling in his arms and lower back. Rubbing it, he turned to Agent Barrowman, whose hand was on his chin.
“Super speed? Also a frequent one.”
Alex shrugged. It would be a useful power, but somehow he doubted it was one he had. Still, he charged off across the grass. It felt silly doing it while Agent Barrowman and Cora were watching, and he felt even sillier when he noticed he was still running at normal speed with his hands flailing around like a madman. Cora giggled, then stifled the sound behind her hand. Alex sighed. This day was not going at all as he had imagined.
Agent Barrowman was standing in the same position, brows furrowed. “Try amassing energy between your palms. You know, like an energy blast. Or a fireball.”
Growing steadily more frustrated, Alex tried it. He also tried Agent Barrowman’s recommendation of attempting to move things with his mind, to see if he had developed telekinesis like Cora, since siblings sometimes shared similar abilities. He then tried a few more he remembered from his vast knowledge of comics and the carnival he had watched earlier in July, such as acid spit, freezing breath and sonic booms. All gave him the same result.
“Maybe it’s the only one I have,” said Alex, disappointment surging up.
“I have an idea,” Agent Barrowman said. Instead of explaining it to him, as Alex expected him to, he walked over to Cora, then bent down and whispered in her ear. A look of concern briefly flitted across her face, but by the time he was done talking it had passed. He straightened up and Cora stood, nodding before walking off into the trees.
“Where’s she going?”
“I asked her to fetch me a cup of coffee,” Agent Barrowman said. Alex frowned at him, sure he was being dishonest but not understanding why he would need to.
“What’s the idea you were talking about?”
Agent Barrowman crossed the clearing in only a few strides. He picked up his briefcase and rifled inside it again, watched all the while by a curious Alex. “If you have any additional powers, they will likely show themselves over time. It could be days, or maybe even weeks. But it would be better for you to know as early as possible so we can try to come up with training plans. There are a few more tests we can try, but they could potentially be very dangerous. I want you to be absolutely sure you’re up for this next stage, because there’s a very high risk factor and the methods may be a bit… unconventional. Do you wish to proceed, or would you like to wait until these powers — if any — emerge of their own accord? ”
An answer jumped into Alex’s mind, ready to leap to his tongue, but he bit it back. It would be better to fully consider all perspectives first. After considering for almost a whole minute, weighing the risks and the benefits, he said, “Yes, I’d like to proceed.”
“Noted,” said Agent Barrowman, and he finally stood up from his briefcase, this time holding a gun.
“Woah, woah!” Alex said, holding up his hands instinctively as he pointed it right at him. “What the hell are you doing?”
Mr. Barrowman didn’t answer this time. Instead, he cocked the gun and fired. Alex knew he couldn’t dodge a speeding bullet, but instinct led him to throw himself to the side anyway. But it wasn’t a bullet that came out. It was a plain brown ball, about the size of a large gumball, not as fast as an ordinary bullet but somehow he felt it would be just as bad if it hit him. It whizzed past his ear as he jumped aside and it hit the tree behind him with enough force to crack the trunk.
“What are you doing?” Alex shouted, his mind overtaken by a surge of panic. Once again, the Agent ignored him, firing off more balls. Alex scrabbled to his feet, trying to dodge. It was strange, how the balls seemed to be closing in on him yet at the very last moment they would veer right past him, as if the wind was blowing them off course just before they could make contact.
The brown balls were whizzing about all around him, shattering trunks and tearing up the ground. Alex’s voice had hitched in his throat; he ran as fast as he could, trying to will his rocket feet to ignite so that he could fly away, out of range of Agent Barrowman, who suddenly seemed to have lost his mind. A ball slammed into the tree in front of him and another exploded behind him, bringing him to a grinding halt in between their ruined trunks. He was standing in front of another tree, holding up his hands, chest heaving. Agent Barrowman was aiming right at him, eyes set.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but if this is one of those tests you mentioned earlier then I changed my mind about proce —”
The gun was fired before he could finish his statement. Alex closed his eyes again in instinct, bracing for impact... An impact that never came. Slowly he opened his eyes, left first, then right, and saw the ball hovering directly in front of him, frozen in midair.
Agent Barrowman lowered the gun, his mouth slightly open.
“Are you crazy?” Alex yelled. “What if you hit me?”
“I wasn’t trying to hit you,” said Mr. Barrowman, still with an air of awe. “And it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”
“What are you talking about?” he demanded furiously.
Leaves trampled up ahead, signalling another approaching party. Then Cora reappeared, looking similarly amazed.
“You… you were changing the direction of the balls, weren’t you? Moving them at the last second to keep them from hitting me. You were in on this too?” His anger was building to the extreme. He felt as if he were about to explode.
“I was,” she said, pulling the ball hovering in front of him into her palm. “And it looked like your plan worked.”
“What are you talking about?” Alex said again. His breathing was easing, but somehow he felt heavier, as if he was being weighed down by something.
Agent Barrowman took out his phone and approached him. Alex tensed again, but the man merely held the blank screen up to his face.
“What is this? What am I supposed to be looking a — at…” He trailed off, moving closer to the screen. His reflection was visible on the blank surface, but for a moment he had to wonder if he was actually hallucinating. His face was covered in a thick layer of deep grey rock, caked with white. His eyes looked much the same, although they were widened in shock, but even his hair had disappeared underneath a crown of the same granite-grey stone. He looked down at his arms and saw that they too, along with his legs and the rest of his body hidden underneath his clothes, were covered in the same rock.
“What is this?” Even his voice sounded rather hollow, now that he was actually listening.
“That would be stone armour, kid,” Agent Barrowman said, grinning widely. “One of your hidden abilities. I think we figured out what your trigger is: Fear.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Like I told you, there’s a relationship between a superhuman’s mental state and their powers. Under the right circumstances, emotion can trigger a reaction, the same way it does for a Trigger Moment. Looks like your emotional trigger is the same one that activated your Deva Gene in the first place. In short, you get scared and we get results.”
“So you pull a gun on me?”
“I did warn you about the potential danger.”
“You could have at least told me what you were gonna do,” Alex grumbled.
“You ever notice how if you purposely try to bite your tongue it doesn’t hurt, but it stings like hell when you do it by accident? Even if you actively try to do it, your brain will still secretly send signals to make sure you don’t actually cause yourself serious pain. Same thing here: if you knew you weren’t in any real danger, your body wouldn’t have reacted the way it did.” He gestured at the rock plating. “Besides, your sister was looking out for you the whole time.”
Cora gave him her signature smirk. “Yep. As long as I’m around the only person who’s gonna cause you untold pain and suffering, is moi.”
“I’m touched,” Alex said sarcastically.
“Oh, don’t be mad. The test was a success. Now do you want to sit around arguing, or do you want to see if there’s anything else you can do?” Agent Barrowman said eagerly.