It was 12:30 PM on Monday. The third and final lunch time at TaeJean's old high school. At this time, the gym classes were apart of the areas released to eat. As a student, Cory knew this fact. This created an easy robbery opportunity. As long as he didn't run into a staff member who knew the details of his suspension, he would be alright. Cory knew that the athletic department kept money from ticket sales, fan gear, and the like in one of their offices or classrooms. He was after the football funds specifically. It was their season after all, and they just had a game that weekend. He stood the greatest chance to profit without having to break into multiple offices.
When school started, he didn’t go through the front door. He knew it would have been reported to the school that he hadn’t returned to his group home the night before. Plus, he also suspected the metal detector at the school would light up due to his electric capabilities. He realized that these thoughts wouldn’t have occurred to him before. “The electricity is definitely boosting my brain.” It had been 5 months since he gained these abilities. This was the first time he noticed any difference in his mental capacities.
He and the other delinquents at the school knew of a loose window in one of the boys restrooms. Luckily for them no janitor or authority figure had discovered it. There was no camera in this vicinity as well, making it one of the few blind spots at the school. Indeed, TaeJean, Cory, and all the others knew all these spots and had used them for gambling and other such juvenile activities. In fact, they all made a concerted effort to keep the window clean. This was the only positive activity some of the boys engaged in. He hid in the dirty stall for the whole first class period. He left a little after first period bell rang, to avoid running into janitors. He decided to be a jerk and leave the loose window open behind him. He would never be using it again, so why should anyone else? He spent the remaining time hanging out at another known blind spot.
Cory had spent all day planning on what to do. The gym was definitely locked. He also knew they had an alarm system that would activate if the door was breached. He hoped his electrical zaps would be enough to short out the lock and keypad. Upon entering the vicinity of the gym, he hid behind a pillar. He began gathering a ball of electricity in between his right index and middle finger. He reached his hands around the corner and fired. It hit its target, the camera on the overhang.
Within his office, the school resource officer noticed one of the camera signals disappear. Due to the current state of society, he was always paranoid. “I don’t like this,” he thought to himself. He got up, and began to head out of the office. There was a parent there to check out a student. She heard as he radioed the receptionist, and all other staff with walkies talkies. “This is Officer Brock. Please stand by. We may have a possible Stem attack. The people who heard it all had their heart jump a beat, including the mother who was there for her daughter. “Oh my God…” she said.
Back at the gym, Cory was working on door lock. He was allowing a small stream of electricity flow from each of his finger tips into the metal lock. He stood right in front of the door.
Finally, the lock shorted out. Cory heard a “click” as the mechanism loosened. “Yes!” He was in! The hard part was over! Now to find what he was looking for. He looked across the gymnasium floor. He saw the office door that belonged to the athletic director. He decided to sprint. For this second door, he began gathering his power. After about 8 seconds, he had a large ball of electricity within his hand and he slammed it into the door. There was no need for subtlety. He was about to go on the run. Upon entering the room, he quickly spotted his target. It was a safe in the back of the room “There it is!” the boy exclaimed. He had $80 in his pocket. He figured if the box had at least another $100 he would be able to start over in another state fairly easily. Of course, he was hoping for much more than that. He saw snacks that would be sold for vending at sporting events. He started feeling very hungry, a symptom of using his powers. The powers of Stems we’re just exacerbated manifestations of phenomena already found in bio-chemistry, and thus had caloric requirements for use. Cory decided the money was still his priority, but he’d grab some snacks on his way out, though it would add a few seconds. Then, he would leave the gym, walking to the woods by the track and field. There was an old broken gate, quite similar to the window. Students went to the woods for various purposes, mostly truancy and to take substances they had no business taking, especially as teens.
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Cory had been working on melting through the safe for about 45 seconds, producing much less electricity at the moment due to him being hungry. Trying to short it would just leave the lock in place. Finally, he melted through the lock, and opened the door. “Jackpot!” Cory thought as he opened the safe. And he was right. A large zip lock bag marked with sharpie. The date and funds for the most recent game. $3467! “Yes. Home free!” Cory began laughing with Joy. His life was saved!
“Freeze!” Cory stopped laughing. “Turn around.” Cory complied. The resource officer had his gun drawn on Cory. He had seen the last few seconds of him melting the safe. The boy began to panic “S***!” he thought to himself. Electricity began to surge around his body, not by any conscious action of Cory's, but due to adrenaline! The resource officer pulled the trigger! BLAMM BLAMM! Electricity came forth from Cory, veering the bullets off course, but one still hit his shoulder blade! “Ahhh!” The officer ran out of the room, speaking into his walkie-talkie. “Stem attack! I repeat! Stem Atta-- ARRRRRGH!!” Cory streamed a blast off electricity into the man. The officer hit the ground with a thud, never to move again. But now, Cory could barely move. He was so hungry! All of a sudden, the alarm started going off! Running was no longer a viable option! The cops and U.N.S.E.A would be here soon! He crawled over to the officers body. His own body was sore from over stimulation. “Hostages it is.” He grabbed the officers gun and taser, and then he remembered something.
Due to Stems and U.N.S.E.A, criminal organizations often employed scientists of various disciplines to develop weapons. They were colloquially called Lab Rats. When he first revealed his powers to the Urban Devils, their Lab Rat put the idea of Cory developing a rail gun like attack in his head. “If I wait until I eat, it will make it harder to take hostages. Might as well try this once right now, then eat. I hope this works!” He grabs the officers pistol in his right hand, and the stun gun in his left. He had also noticed the officer had a taser. “Redundant. Wait, I know that word?” Cory had always hated academia, but was beginning to enjoy his new found intellect. He activated the stun gun, turning the juice all the way up. He placed it upon his right arm. He began to feel a sensation he had become familiar with. Electricity surged throughout him. He directed it into the gun he was holding! The gun began to glow and heat up! Suddenly, Cory pulled the trigger, and the bullet burst forth, creating a mach cone with arcs of electricity around it, rupturing the gun barrel! It crashed through the wall, and Cory could hear it barreling through the school! Four seconds later, he saw the smoke and heard the screams! Such devastation! His hunger had increased but just barely. Still, the gun was destroyed. Cory scanned the area, and saw a large loose wire hanging from the wall he had just destroyed. He removed the clip from the gun, and counted the remaining bullets. “Ten shots, hollow tips? Bet!” he thought.
The sirens were already approaching. “I’ll go down fighting!,” the boy thought to himself. His adrenaline rushed, and his brain activity was stimulated even further. He would get right back to attacking within a few minutes, but first, he needed to eat. He walked to the office. He grabbed as many snacks as he could. Chips, a honey bun, chocolate bars, and sports drinks. He gorged himself like someone was coming to steal his food, because someone was! U.N.S.E.A! Thus began the one hundredth superhuman terrorist attack in the United States for the year 2011.