Genesis 1.3

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

He awoke to the sound of nothing.

No rats scurrying around his feet or in the walls to frighten him awake.

No street noises to frighten him out of his slumber.

No, for the first time in weeks, the boy woke up gently and peacefully, with nothing to disturb him and nothing giving him any urgent reason to move. As he opened his eyes fully, he sat up and stared around the room in silence, wondering why he felt like he knew where he was. Like a light bulb flickering on, he felt a moment of understanding, something in the back of his mind telling him that this was what a hospital room looked like. A private one, at least.

He blinked in slight surprise at the thought, wondering what else he knew about hospitals. As far as he knew, he'd never been inside one and from what a few people told him in a homeless shelter, they were pretty expensive. Strangely enough, he found himself wondering why he felt so familiar with the idea of hospitals, especially private rooms. Did he spend much time in them? Was he often sick before?

As usual, the well of information had dried up and he received no other tidbits. Shrugging, he stopped trying to think about his past and simply stared forward, watching as people in blue uniforms - scrubs, he remembered - hurried past his door. The glass window on the door to this room provided him a relatively unobstructed view of the hallway, not that he cared much about what was going on outside anyway.

No, he was fine right where he was and had no desire to change that. The idea of getting up, let alone doing anything else, hadn't even come to him, the boy just content to relax in the warmth of a bed. The feeling of clean, soft sheets on an actual bed were almost too much, the feeling of actual comfort letting him feel relaxed for the first time in a while.

Other than that, his thoughts had drifted back to the last things he remembered before waking up here. The way his heart seemed to pound in his chest as he ran, the sweat dripping down his face and the bitter taste of blood in his mouth as he kept pushing himself. He hadn't run that fast or that hard before, as far as he could remember. Even running from creeps on the street hadn't forced a sudden burst of speed like that out of him, let alone maintaining it the way he did.

I did all that? He shook his head slowly, marvelling at his own actions. I can't believe it. Really, it was almost unbelievable. The idea that he could have managed to pull of even half of what he did should have been unthinkable, considering how beat he was. Hell, he was almost dead on his feet right before that and all of a sudden, he was punching a thief over some woman's purse. Granted, he wanted the money for himself, but still…

How did I even do it?

Running that fast and that far? Getting up after having his head slammed into the ground? Taking on a grown man like that? He had been damn near starving, exhausted and already dazed and hurt from getting his head slammed into a wall but somehow, somehow, he had ignored all that just to stop a bad guy.

In the weeks since he woke up in a back alley somewhere in Kentucky, he hadn't ever fought anyone, content to run away from the criminals and creeps that roamed the streets. The fact that he was actually able to fight someone twice his size and age just didn't make sense. Even now, he could barely process how he managed to do what he did. It just didn't seem possible.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Wait, the kid thought to himself, blinking as he remembered the frenzied fight between him and the purse snatcher. My hands… they were glowing during that fight. Every time I punched him. He paused to flex his fingers, the memory coming back to him as he thought back to that exact moment. Every single time. "...I do have powers. Glowy hand powers that let me punch better" His grin faded slightly. "Not exactly winning the superpower lottery here."

Still, how? Things like that didn't happen, though. The kid pursed his lips, frowning slightly as he nodded along with his thoughts. After all, things like this only happened in movies, tv shows and…

"Comic books," he whispered, biting his lip as the words left his mouth. I'm in a comic book world. I am in a comic book. The boy took a deep gulp of air and closed his eyes, almost as if to let the thought properly sink in. Opening his eyes, he let the air out in a shuddering breath.I am living inside a comic book.

Of course he had realized that he was sharing a world with characters that he remembered watching and reading about weeks ago, but the reality of it - what it really meant - was just now hitting him full force. Clenching his hands tightly into fists, he fought hard to suppress the manic grin growing across his face, trying his hardest to remain in control of himself. "Oh my god, it…" he paused to take in another breath, blinking rapidly. "It all makes sense now." A soft giggle burst out under his breath. Amnesia, living on the streets, no parents, powers…

Powers. His grin slowly faded, replaced by a despondent look as he realized something else, something just as important. "I'm a comic book character... with pretty weak powers."

This was not good, emphasis on the "not".

In a world full of giant apes, killer clowns and all sorts of superpowered baddies, people with weak powers and normal people just didn't mean anything, unless you were some kind of super martial arts specialist or something. Even then, you had to be like a billionaire and a main character to not get killed off in the comics for some reason.

The boy frowned, hand cupping his smooth chin. Although, it might not be so bad. Yeah, maybe he could snatch some super weapon and use it to protect himself. Maybe. All he had to do was figure out was where in the weird, wild DC Universe he was.

He knew for sure it wasn't anything he'd watched on television. No Watchtower and nobody having any knowledge of any superheroes in Jump City told him for sure that this wasn't Teen Titans or Justice League, Unlimited or the original one. From what one food cart salesman had told him, the man calling himself a superhero expert, there weren't any supers in Dakota City either and according to the guy, "they need someone down there to clean it up". That ruled out the Static Shock TV show, too.

"Either way, it doesn't really matter where I am," he muttered to himself. "I have to figure out how these powers work first. Like, how do I even turn them on?"

Ping! The kid's eyes widened in surprise as a glowing screen suddenly appeared in his field of vision. A moment later, they widened even further, his eyes almost bulging as he read what was hanging in front of his face.

Mission Created!

Tutorial: The Absolute Basics

Details: Say Menu.

Success: 25 XP

...What.