Construction work was difficult. It always had been, but Joshua had started noticing it more ever since he’d messed up his back. He’d pulled a muscle picking something up too fast. It’d healed, but not properly. He’d needed the money and tried to get back into work too quickly, and it’d just become thing now.

Right before lunch, he started to feel it. And after, if he didn’t do a stretch he’d feel the small tightness in his back even more. And even if he did do some stretches, there was always an awareness of it in his mind. It was getting to him, a constant reminder of the pain he’d felt when he’d pulled it and the fear that if it happened again, he’d be out of a job.

It was agonising, mentally and physically. Though he’d never let it show.

A loud sound shook him from his thoughts, and he flinched. The sudden movement tipped his unbalanced weight and the bag on his shoulder slipped. He barely managed to dodge before it slammed to the ground where his foot had been.

Focus you fucking idiot.

Careful to squat with his back straight, he wrestled the bag from the ground and stood, sliding it carefully back onto his shoulder before starting forward. He moved through the site, slowly, more focused on his surroundings now. The sound of drilling, welding and hammers echoing from all around him.

He frowned, glancing up past the tall beams of metal, walls of brick and concrete to the blue of the sky beyond. He wiped sweat from his face and sighed. He hated it when the weather was like this. It just reminded him he was stuck here. He shook his head and finally came to a stop and dropped the bag onto a stack with all the others. As he turned a voice called out to him

“Hey Josh!”

He glanced behind him to see Lenny, one of the slightly older members of the crew sitting enjoying his lunch early.

“What?”

“Come sit over here”

“There’s a few more bags Len”

“Oh, come on, the boss ain’t here and Will ain’t a snitch” the older man said with a grin. Joshua hesitated.

“I’ll just go grab a few more bags, then I’ll sit with you”

“Oh, come on son, just sit down”

Joshua hesitated again, then shrugged and moved to sit beside the man. They sat on a concrete cylinder wedged in place by a metal rod and the brick wall behind them, which offered a nice screen of shade. He sighed, then sat in silence for a bit, staring out at the mess of the site in front of them.

"So Josh anything fun happen recently?"

"Not really. Well... Reilly moved out. She's doing this summer camp thing, then it's college. It's... whatever"

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really"

“Ok. Uh... you hear about that stuff on the news? With all the shit appearing out of thin air?”

“Shit appearing out of thin air? Like what?” he said, frowning.

“I don’t know, just random stuff” Len said. “Sandwich?”

“Thanks” Josh mumbled, taking it.

“Yeah, it's happening all over the city apparently. SIT. Spontaneous Interdimensional Travel the experts were calling it. You wonder where it’s going to happen next?”

“Not really. I’ve got more important stuff to worry about”

“Like Reilly?”

“...why do you even want to talk about it?”

“It’s just interesting is all. The expert was saying this is all cause of that scientist woman. Uh, what was it… something Fines? She did some show test at this prep school between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge, caused all this mess. It’s crazy. Apparently the MDA are involved.”

“The MDA? Those corrupt metahuman police guys, right? What’re they doing?”

“I don’t know. But they put a warrant out for that Dr woman’s arrest the other day. I think she's the next big supervillain. Like that Dr Warr guy or whatever who was cloning people ages ago” Lenny said. Joshua smiled slightly and turned to the man as he took another bite of his sandwich.

“You really enjoy talking about all this stuff, don’t you?”

“Well, it’s kind of interesting, no? A lot of metahuman stuff happens but it’s always far away, or your sister’s friend’s son’s half cousin saw something for all of about three seconds or something like that”

Joshua let out a small chuckle.

“I guess. I worked with a guy who knew that… Finnick guy? I can’t remember his name, but he became that sand man monster thing”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It was crazy, they were apparently good friends and stuff. I don’t know anything else though”

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“My granddaughter says she thinks one of the kid’s older brothers at her school is the black goo Spider-Man. She’s probably just exaggerating, but who knows?”

“Eh, probably not”

“Yeah, probably not”

The two went quiet for a second.

“Wasn’t this place damaged by some big superhero fight?” Joshua said.

“Yeah. This was that Electric guy what, two years back now? He did a bunch of buildings all over the place. Oh, my brother’s ex-wife used to work with him at that Oscorp office before he went evil. Looks like we both know someone who knows a supervillain”

“Hm” Josh muttered. “I guess it really is a small world.”

Suddenly the space in front of them warped. It twisted, shifting with energy and power as Lenny and Joshua both fell silent, astounded. Then something fell from it, skittering across the floor towards them before stopping at their feet.

Joshua didn’t recognise the strange contraption, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the sparks, red flashing light on its side and the yellow sticker underneath. He recognised the symbol within the yellow triangle, a new one that’d started circulating about a year or two ago. It had one meaning, very clear meaning.

WARNING THIS DEVICE USES UNSTABILISTED NEGATIVE ENERGY

Joshua stood quickly, grabbing Lenny to move them both away. But it was too late. The device let out a loud whirring and Joshua felt his entire body twist and contort with raw undefined power as he was thrown back into the brick. Then everything went white.

-

I sat in the car, peacefully eating. The sun was out in full force today, beams of sunlight streaming through the open windows. I took another bite of my burger as a slow and cool breeze wafted over me, cooling my skin. It was nice, the general atmosphere. Peaceful.

The car slowly came to a stop and I glanced to Big Sis as she parked. She killed the engine and together we got out the car. I winced slightly, poking at my still tender side as I looked up to our apartment building.

“You okay?” she asked as she rounded the car, stepping onto the sidewalk.

“Yeah”

“Well take it easy, and maybe don’t finish that burger just yet. It might be better to stick to fluids for now, so I’ll blend it when we get inside an-”

“No way” I said, chuckling as I took another bite. Big Sis rolled her eyes and we made our way into the building. I took the stairs slowly, my body still sore, but for the most part ok. I’d healed quickly, even quicker than I’d expected and now – after a week - I was finally out.

We exited the stairs and made our way down the hall, coming to a stop at our door. Sis opened it quickly and I was immediately met by the smiling faces of Eric, Rion and Yerin.

“Surprise” they said in unison.

“Hey guys” I responded, grinning. “You seriously didn’t have to come.”

“Oh come on man, we get to see you and skip? Who wouldn’t want that?” Rion said. Everyone chuckled and we started towards my room, quickly taking seats around the room. Yerin’s smile faltered slightly as she looked at the food in my lap.

“Uh, you sure you should be eating a burger?”

“I asked Sofia to bring it for me”

“Oh, where is she?”

“She met us at the hospital, but she had a presentation for Mr Tanner and I didn’t want to keep her”

“Did Quinten visit with her?” Rion asked.

“Quinten’s busy with practice”

“I mean, it’s your first day out. He could at least try visit” Yerin said.

“We did a video call and it was enough. Besides I’m going to see him later today anyway”

“Why?” Eric said.

“We’re having a big party tonight. Everyone’s invited”

“Ah man, you should’ve told me in advance. I’m going to my dad’s straight after I leave here” Rion said. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know. Everyone’s just going to show when they can”

“Aw man. I might be able to come for a bit, but… yeah”

“Don’t worry man, we’ll enjoy the party for you” Eric joked. We all chuckled before settling into a comfortable silence. Yerin furrowed her brow slightly, looking to me. She grazed my cheek gently with back of her hand, her expression muted. It was the look she got when she tried to hide her worry.

“I’m fine you know” I said.

“… yeah, I know” she mumbled back.

“Really, the bruising and stuff all make it look worse than it actually is. I’m practically completely fine”

“Is this you saying this or the doctor?” Yerin asked, furrowing her brow once again.

“Me mostly, but the doctor did say I was completely healed. I might even be good to go for a run tomorrow morning”

“Don’t push it, the doctors were probably just being overly optimistic” Yerin said.

“Yeah, just take it easy, you don’t want to leave, then keel over and die at graduation” Rion said.

“I don’t know” Eric said. “Maybe he’ll be ok for it”

“Is that what this is all about” Yerin said, shooting a glare at Eric and then me. “You don’t have to come to the graduation ceremony you know?”

“I’ll be fine”

“It’s just a day. I know it’s an important day, a big ceremony and everything, but you graduate high school anyway, and you don’t want to be hurt from pushing yourself for this single thing and-”

“Yerin” I chuckled taking her hand. ”Trust me I’ll be fine”

There was a moment of silence and she nodded, her expression still not completely assured.

“So… you going to tell us what happened or is it going to forever be a mystery?” Rion said, breaking the silence. I froze, my eyes momentarily flicking to Eric before I looked back to Rion, then to Yerin.

“I… it’s difficult” I mumbled.

“Uh… as in you don’t want to tell us, or you can’t?” Yerin asked.

“No, it’s… it’s not like that. I was going to tell everyone during the party, or tomorrow when everyone got up for the weekend, but… guess I’ll have to stagger it” I said, my smile fading slightly.

“Is it that bad?” Rion said.

“…kind of. It’s not bad just… shocking I guess” I mumbled. “I hope it doesn’t change things, but it will. I just hope it’s for the better”

“Woah man” Rion said, chuckling awkwardly as he sat up. “I thought this was like, you took something for fun and went on a three-day bender before ending up in the hospital. You’re making it sound life changing”

“Well… it is” I mumbled. There was another silence, this one more poignant.

“You can tell us Lucas” Yerin said tenderly.

“I… I’m-”

Rion’s phone went off, the hook of Don’t Cry by J Dilla playing loudly from his blazer pocket. He quickly grabbed and checked.

“S-sorry. Got to take this. It’s my dad” he said, quickly stepping outside. The door closed softly behind him and I let out a breath of relief.

“You ok?” Eric asked.

“Yeah, yeah” I mumbled. I looked to the floor, then glanced back up to him again. For a moment we shared eye contact and I knew he already understood what this was about. Suddenly the door opened again and Rion poked his head back through.

“Sorry guys, but my dad needs help moving some stuff” he said,

“Oh, does he want a hand?” I asked.

“Yeah. Sorry”

“We can help”

“Lucas?!”

“What?” I said. She glared at me. “Sorry, sorry”

“It’s fine guys you don’t have to” Rion said. “But since this whole things’ earlier I should be able to come to the party. Might be a bit late though”

“I can help” Eric said. ”If it makes everything faster for you, then we can get back quickly and Lucas can tell everyone together”

“Uh… sure” Rion said. “Well, ok. Bye guys, see you later”

“Bye” Yerin and I said in unison.

“See you” Eric said, following Rion out the door. It closed softly behind him and I heard them say goodbye to my sister. We sat in silence for a second, then Yerin gently placed a hand on my face, turning me to face her.

“You can tell me, you know” she said warmly. I looked into her eyes for a moment, before looking at the ground

“I will” I said, “After I’ve done it we can talk as much as we need to, but it has to be with everyone first. Please”

“… ok” she said, offering a small smile. “Ok”