Category: Original Characters

Now before I carry on you gotta understand. Finding myself in love with Felicity was one of the most painful things I’d ever had to experience. At the time, Alice meant so much to me that falling for someone else was, in a sense, betrayal. I was there to avenge the woman I loved, not find another one you know? But everything about her just….spoke to me you know? I couldn’t help myself. So, that brings us back to where I left off

“Well Aunt Patti its just….I think I’m in love”

Her expression said it all. She obviously knew about me and Alice and everything. I showed up at her cafe at closing time just two hours after Alice died in hospital; I had nowhere else to go. Anyway, even she couldn’t believe it. “Honey are ya sure? Maybe you should think about this a lil more”

“I have thought about it Aunt Patti. She’s just…”

“Somethin’ else?”

“Yeah….”

“Oh darlin’, I’ve been there”

And of course she went on another one of Patti’s famous rants. She rants about anything. Men, the weather, men, the price of gas, men, Joanne who she hates and men are some of her favourite subjects to rant about. Did I mention men? Yeah, she had a bad husband a long time ago. In fact, it was my dear old (don’t let her know I said that) mother who sorted this guy out. Aunt Patti told me he couldn’t drive let alone walk after my mum got a hold of him. I only know the fine details because oh lord, I can tell you every word off by heart.

“But look shugah, if you really do like this girl then, well, go for it. You got my full support”

I couldn’t help but grin like a kid when she said that. It was hard enough getting her blessing to even apply to the Association but if she was okay with Fe, then that meant god damn was she special. I checked my watch and realized I was a few minutes late for my date so I drank my tea, gave my Aunt Patti a goodbye kiss on the cheek and out the door I went. I asked Jackie if she could make me some of those shock absorbers for my legs and she happily agreed. So if you can guess how I got to the bunkhouse, nice guess. If not, I’ll tell ya; I leaped the whole way there. It was so fun! I got to see the city from an almost entirely new angle, watching all the cars and such go by. And not a single bit was damaged! Pretty proud of myself for that one. I landed on the grass infront of our bunkhouse and there was Felicity, looking pretty good and smiling at me, albeit wiping some dirt from her jeans

“Sorry about that. I don’t really know how to land yet” I said, laughing nervously

“Don’t worry about it” she replied, finding my incompetent landing pretty funny. As does everyone. Still can’t quite get it right.

“So, where are we going?”

“Oh umm….well theres this big arcade place near my Aunts cafe. I figured we could go there”

“Old school hm?”

“That bad?”

“No actually. Kinda cute”

And christ on a bike eating pudding, she gave me that sly little smirk I love. My heart started pounding from that smile as we made our way to the arcade. Now when I say big, I mean HUGE. This place took up one whole block. The Fortress of Awesome if I recall. Cheesy name but appropriate. I love that place. Me, Ty and Alice would always hang out there in our spare time. And as time went on, many games won and lost, I noticed something. There was this weird glimmer, that kept passing me by every so often. And once I saw it coming again, I moved my foot ever so slightly, and Kyle hit the floor.

“Just because you’re invisible doesn’t mean I don’t know you’re there”

“Of course, I know that!”

I laughed as Axel, Tyler and Johnny all came from behind a few machines. Of course they’d follow I thought. But in the end it wasn’t all bad. Fe didn’t seem to mind and neither did I, so we all had fun anyway.

“This’ll be good for you” Tyler said as we made our way back home. It was in the middle of the afternoon and since we had no work schedule, we thought we might as well head home.

“You think so?”

“Of course. Even I can see she likes you. And she reminds me of Alice too don’t worry.”

“Least I’m not the only one”

We all began to wind down and the afternoon progressed into the night. Axel and me spent the day trying to beat the Street Fighter arcade machine (Felicity did it in the end. Beginners luck I say) and it gave him a few ideas for moves he wanted to try out so I spent the next few hours going through them with him. Some were cool and had potential, others would have gotten him killed almost immediately. Eventually everyone went to bed one by one, leaving me and Fe as the last ones to go.

“I had fun”

“Glad you did. I still can’t believe you beat M.Bison. You’ve never even played before!”

“That’s because I’m just good!”

“Beginners luck, Streaks”

“Oh are we doing nicknames now, Jacket?

“Seems that way huh?”

We laughed and, as we slowed the laughter, we ended up looking into each others eyes. Time seemed slow just a little, and I could feel every muscle in my body moving me closer. She also must have felt the same, since we ended up practically chest to chest. She pulled away quickly, clearly embarrassed. Then she gave me a super fast kiss on my cheek, made a weird squeal noise and went into her room. I stood there, confused but also, in a state of euphoria. She liked me! She actually liked me! This hero gig was actually turning out a lot better than I thought.

But as I entered my room, and turned on the light ,a chilling yet familiar voice hit my ears and I could’ve screamed. I scanned the room pretty quickly and saw him. I’ll never forget those eyes. They weren’t childish ego anymore. They held pure, unobstructed evil.

“So, it looks like Bad-Man Barrick as a new widdle pwincess”

I lunged at him, ready to dig my thumbs into those eyes or do whatever it was that came to mind first. He dodged almost effortlessly and pushed me out of my window and into the cold of the night. I got up quickly, anticipating every possible move he could make and how I was going to counter. He stood on front me, climbing out of my window, brandishing a bowie knife that glinted and glowed in the moonlight.

“Going somewhere big man?”

“You have ten seconds to tell me why you’re here Dom before I tear you apart!”

“Ooooo scary! Didn’t take you for the murdering type Barrick. Then again, no one else did either!”

He laughed as his said that. I felt the blood and adrenaline rush to my arms and legs. He dared to show his face to me and now he was mocking me! Making me remember! I wanted to snap every bone in that body and I lunged at him again, this time managing to grab him

“I’m gonna snap you!”

“That’s a bad idea Barrick. The rest of the five wouldn’t like their oh so special leader being broken”

“Five?….”

“Oh didn’t I say? I’m here for what you did to Thrash. No one messes with the Fearsome Five!”

I stood there, confused for a moment, holding him up to the brick wall. Fearsome Five? It didn’t take me long to realise who he was talking about either.

“You….You were there…”

“Where? I’ve been lots of places Barrick”

I slammed his back into the wall, the adrenaline in my body rushing and crashing throughout

“You killed Alice!”

“Oh you’re still mad about that?”

That did it. I couldn’t believe that after all that, after what he did to her that he’d mention it like it was a passing fancy! I pulled back my fist and threw a punch I knew for sure would hurt him. Might’ve even crippled him for life if it hit. But my fist slammed into steel, and I dropping him, clutching my hand.

“Oh silly me, I forgot to tell you! Cast Iron might be dead and well, this power suits me you think?”

He booted me hard, right into the chest. I didn’t feel anything break, but I certainly felt something crack. As I lied there, the pain in my chest and hand literally burning, he looked down on me, grinning that sick grin he always had.

“I came to leave a message Barrick. Don’t even think about coming looking for me or the rest of us. Or that pretty little thing of yours ends up like the last one. Same goes for the rest. Even smurf”

It was pretty funny to think he remembered that. Then again, I wanted to tear him limb from limb, put him back together and do it again. He left before I got the chance unfortunately and as I climbed back into my room, bandaging up my hand and holding my chest I sat on my bed and stayed there til morning. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t think. All I felt was pain.

And pure, absolute anger. The kind that makes you do things you’ll regret. But honestly, I don’t regret a goddamn thing about what I did to that freak. He had it coming, one way or another.

Seeing as I was now officially part of the investigation, I figured then would be as good a time as any to start training up Axel. I managed to get him while we were on a break from our patrols, making sure to keep an eye out for anything at the same time.

“Hey, Axel?”

“Yeah what?”

“About the whole training thing. You free later this afternoon?”

“Yes! Absolutely!”

“Great, I’ll meet you in the weight room at our bunkhouse. Say….three-ish? Quarter past?”

“Yeah I can make that!”

“Nice. I’ll see you then”. I made sure to say that with a smile. If I was gonna train him up I needed pretty much all his focus and attention. So I figured if I was nice to him, but kept a metaphorical leash on him, then maybe this might work. All that chaotic energy I was also familiar with needed an outlet regardless of how you put it. Anyway, the time came and I went to the weight room to meet him and funnily enough he was already there. Trying in vain to bench press weights that were clearly too much for him. So I just pulled it up and put it down; simple as that. Being super strong works in a lot of situations. He sat up and while struggling to breathe (Axel doesn’t work out as often as he should) and seemed to almost bounce around “I’m ready for it! What do I gotta do first!?”

“Well for starters, I’m not gonna teach you how to fight like me”

“What?!?!”

“Well not exactly like me. You’re still a kid and they way I fight, plus the way you fight equals death. So I’m gonna teach you the way my mum taught me”

“Huh?”

“Look I’m gonna be smart with this. I’m gonna work WITH your power. I’m not gonna make you change your style, but I’m gonna teach you some boxing incase you can’t use it alright?”

“S-sure! I’ll do my best!”

And with that I was teaching him how to jab properly, I taught him southpaw and orthodox (he’s a southpaw like me, which made it a lot easier). He seemed to get the hang of it pretty easily, which surprised me; I didn’t take him for such a fast learner but he surprises me every single day. I’m used to it by this point. Eventually he had leaned pretty much everything my mum taught me and he was pretty excited to keep this going. We had to cut this session short, since today was the day of the ceremony and well, I had to jazz myself up. I’m not one to wear suits. It was never my personal style but I will admit that while wearing one I become one hell of a handsome bastard. At least its my assumption. Anyway, by the time we had decided it be best to get ready, everyone else was already frantically getting ready too. Kyle was helping Fe get her hair right and styled perfectly (still don’t understand it. Her hair has one style anyway!) And of course, Tyler was already ready, but couldn’t figure out how to get his tie done. In all the years I’ve known him, he still to this day cannot get it right, no matter how much we tell him or show him. As for me, I had a pretty special suit in mind. It was the suit I had intended to get married in but, I guess it never really got to be there for its use. I’m guessing you’ve got a grip on my personality by now, so I hope you didn’t picture me in a plain black one. I chose one that was right for me. Purple and grey. I don’t know if theres anything that says something about me because I chose those colours but I liked it, so I got it. I made sure to shower and do all that, and when I put it on I felt sad. I should’ve worn that suit watching Alice walk towards me in her dress, but she never bought one. Didn’t get that chance. I guess I kept it because it was a reminder that I was still alive, in a time where honestly; I wish I wasn’t. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I would’ve gone with her. Being dead alongside her felt better than being alive without her. And while I did feel sad that, she’d never get to see me wear it, I felt pride knowing I was where I wanted to be, with people who, while they didn’t know me very well, they knew me enough to care.

Eventually we were all ready and off we were. I spent the walk to the main atrium with Felicity. Just talking about things that have happened in the past week. “You think this Apex guy is gonna try anything?” She asked, although I could hear the concern in her voice

“Maybe. He’s smart. But I don’t think he’ll overdo it”

“How do you know?”

“I uhhh….I might’ve knew him when we were kids”

“You what?”

“I knew him. But even I didn’t think he’d turn out like this”

And that was true. As much as I hated him, I never expected him to be capable of murder. Then again, I doubt he cared about being a hero or even a good person in general. He just wanted to feel like he was better than everyone else. Even if that meant killing someone. Regardless, when we got to the atrium, the party was already in full swing. Heroes of all shapes, sizes and powers were all dressed up, drinking and enjoying the night. Even Mama Glam had gotten dressed up and was interacting with recruits and professionals alike. After drinking a bit myself and laughing and talking with others and my own team of newfound friends, I had put Dom and the threats he had given out of my mind. Eventually at round about 11:15 it was time for the awards and such. I did actually manage to get one, “for calmness and sense of right during a crisis”, which I assumed would be for the incident with Kai. I took my award and sat down at the table Tyler had managed to get us and was showered with compliments. Once the awards was done, they told us to just have fun. Keep doing what we were doing. While that happened Tyler beckoned us to follow him and we all did. He led us to a corridor which led to some stairs. We followed and ended up on the roof, just behind the dome at the very front of the Association building. It was one of the landing pads for the heroes who could fly or had some sort of gadget that helped them fly. “I managed to snag this one. The other were all taken but no one wanted this one, so I turned it into a kind of retreat for us” and boy was it ever. It had a jukebox, a TV, video games, food and drink. Tyler really outdid himself and for the rest of the night, we all had fun just hanging out with each other. I watched Axel open a beer bottle with his teeth, Kyle showed us this cool optical illusion he learned when he was a kid with his hands. Johnny did this thing where he drank AND smoked at the same time! How crazy is that?! Even some other heroes had come up to their landing pads and we all just had fun.

As the night went on I noticed Felicity had climbed onto a small platform on the dome. What it was for I’ll never know but some how she was sat there, just staring at the city. It made me feel bad that she was alone so, I grabbed two beers and headed up there. No one seemed to notice where I was going, and if they did, they didn’t say anything. I climbed up and sat next to her. She seemed pretty happy I came. I twisted off the cap on her beer and handed it to her and after doing the same to mine I sat next to her.

“I take it you like looking at it?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. It’s so pretty. It’s crazy to think of the things that go on during the day”

“Yeah. Crazy”

She paused for a bit, as we both just stared at the lights of the city, in all its crazy glory. It was usually pretty peaceful ay night. The guys and girls on the night shift are pretty scary from what I hear. Anyway, she spoke and it broke me out of my staring contest.

“I don’t get you”

“Really? I’m a pretty simple guy. Have you seen the state of the jacket?”

She laughed a little and continued

“No, I mean you’re not what I always thought a hero would be like”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You’re so…..so….”

“Private?”

“Yeah. Most heroes are really open but, I can tell you’re hiding something”

“I…I have a lot of things I don’t like to talk about”

“Would it make you feel better if I told you about me?”

“I-i guess. If you’re okay with that”

She took a breath, composing herself somewhat, then continued on.

“When I was a kid, I was pretty weird. I liked emo stuff you know? And I wasn’t really good at showing off my powers so I guess a lot of kids didn’t like me. And one day, one of em pushed me a bit too far. I hurt him pretty badly. And ever since then I’ve felt like I’m just….”

“Yeah….I know what you mean”

We once again found ourselves staring into the lights of the city and next thing you know, she slid her arm around my and rested her head on my shoulder. Naturally I panicked on the inside; what is she doing!? I’m here for Alice dammit! I kept telling myself but I just didn’t move. Instead I spoke

“Ummm…since tomorrow is Saturday um….do you wanna….”

“Get lunch? See a movie? Do anything other than work?”

“Y-yeah pretty much”

She smiled at me. In a way that Alice used to that was all but familiar to me

“Sure, why not. I was gonna ask you at some point too”

We sat in silence for a while before the reality dawned on me

“Did….did I just ask you on a date?”

“Yup”

“Huh. Never thought I could”

“Why’s that?”

It was at this point that, I realized I had a choice. I could tell her about Alice, about my past, about everything. She deserved to know right? And as much as I felt the same way, I just….couldn’t

“Nervous I guess” I said as I chuckled nervously. Hopefully she didn’t see through that but Fe is smarter than she looks. Of course she saw it. But as we headed back to out bunks, she pulled a sneaky on my and held my hand the whole way there. I tried not to let it get to me. I really did. But come the next day I needed to talk to someone I trusted the most. So I went back to the place this person was

“Well Aunt Patti its just….. I think I’m in love!”

Dominic Carter. Dominic fucking Carter. Of all the people I did not want involved in my life or my business, why’d it have to be him? I would’ve taken Thrash if he was ten times tougher than before but Dom? He’s not like Thrash. He’s his own breed of evil. Thrash is stupid; relies on strength and size to out do someone. But Dom doesn’t need size. He doesn’t need strength. He’s smarter. He’s a hunter, and if I’ve learned anything from what I’ve done, is that you don’t let hunters get close. But of course, I know that now. Back then, I knew what I wanted and I wanted that sonofa bitch to try his best because I thought I was ready. Spoliers: I wasn’t. Not by a long shot. Before I get into the thing about the note, its time for a personal history lesson dear readers.

I went to a school that was one of the first to cater to kids and teens with superpowers. That’s where I met Tyler and by extension, Alice. We were a trio you see, and were almost inseparable. Tyler was a goodie two shoes, which I guess you’ve figured out by now. Me? I was a bad kid. Even before my strength just kicked its way into my life. But Alice? She was one of the weird kids. The shy kids. The kind of person Dominic Carter and his cronies loved to pick on. And before it happens, no I didn’t hate Dom because he was black okay? I hated him because he was a vile, despicable human being. He’d beat me so bad not even Tyler, with all the sparks and crazy looks he gets, would try to stop him. No one wanted to. Because he got a….unique power to say the least. He could copy other powers. Genetically. Meaning his body would mutate and change to give him that power. No one wanted their own ability used against them, so no one stopped him. Except me. The day I found out I was super strong was the day I realized I wasn’t so weak anymore. That I could be worth something. I went home and my mum burst into tears when I showed her. She was so damn happy. And so was I. Because when I went to school the next day, I found Dom and broke his damn nose. By the time I was done; fractured arms, the broken nose and a fractured jaw. “Try stealing it!” I was screaming at him “I dare you! Come at me! See what happens!”. He left me alone after that. And moved targets to Alice. She never did no wrong to anyone. Always kept to herself and her notebook. And Dom loved that shit. He’d steal it and tear pages out of it til she cried. He’d pull her hair and drag her around. One time, he even forced her to eat mud. She was in the hospital for weeks. Then one day, he upped his game and it was the worst decision he ever made. It was a normal day pretty much. Me and Ty were doin’ our thing sat at the back of class. Then he walks in. Kids part, they all take corners of the room, at least any corner he wasn’t in. And he spots Alice just writing in his notebook. Not paying attention to him. Oh did I forget to mention? Dom loved it when people were scared of him. It made him feel strong. Which is why he had it out for me ever since I showed the school what a total wuss he really was. And seeing Alice not make way for the so called “king of North Side High”? That pissed him off. He snatched her notebook and instead of ripping out pages, he did something worse. I’m sure a few of you had diaries. You know how personal they are. Having someone read it out without your input is the worst. He started laughing “shes in love with bad man Barrick! Awww is widdle Alice in wov wiv the big strong boy?!?!”  She jumped at him and I gotta say: the scratch she left on his cheek was a pretty bad one. So of course he retaliates. He punches her. Harder than I’ve ever seen him hit anyone, even me. Square in the nose too. She runs out the class, and he just burns her book in his hands. He stole a friend of mines power and I lost it.

I had that sonofa bitch by the collar and dragged him outside. I took of my blazer and kicked him as hard as I could. “You wanna pick on someone eh Dom?!? S’that it?!? Pick on me hard man! Cmon I dare ya!” He went for me and by god I heard his ribs crack the second I landed that punch. Of course the fight didn’t last long. The teachers just barely split us up. The next day, Alice didn’t look at anyone. She couldn’t. She was scared of everything and everyone. So I stepped in.

“Hey! Everyone!”
“Alice is my girlfriend! Anyone has a problem with that, come talk to me! I double dare ya!”

And that’s how it happened. I have to say, she grew on me. She was the sweetest, most generous person I ever met. She always saw the best in everyone. Even me….

Now back to the present. Dominic Carter was after me. I didn’t know why. Maybe he saw me on T.V after the incident in Heroes Corridor. I didn’t know. But I soon found out. After the factory was searched and the scene was closed off, I went back to Mama Glam and some of the other elites with the note I found. Strangely it wasn’t bugged or even poisonous or anything you’d expect. Just a regular note. It confused a lot of us heroes. Why would someone demolish a factory just to leave a note? I knew the answer but didn’t dare say anything, since I was currently in a meeting with heroes who were some of the very best. And I didn’t want anyone to know of my involvement. It was clearly a very tense situation.

“Whoever did this is obviously stupid. No villain would try this. Especially if its directed at the tough guy I’m thinking of”. Overbite had a point. It made no sense for a villain to after the greatest of all time like this. Which is why it made sense to me. I knew Dom. Tyler knew Dom. And we both knew him doing this I just him showing off. He wanted me and Tyler to follow the trail; to chase the tail as it were. We figured we’d be smarter by playing along. At least then we might be able to trap him some way. Back him into a corner. Little did we know we were pretty much at the wall by Thursday.

I remember them bringing up his file on their cool as fuck holoscreen thingie. Its awesome getting good funding. But even seeing the image of him just brought back everything. I was gonna make sure he couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. I wanted to see it again. The fear in his eyes as I broke his damn nose. He was gonna get what was coming to him. And unfortunately, as the days went by, Apex made another move. Now I’m telling ya, the thing that makes him dangerous is what happened right then. A hero, who went by the name of Gas Mask, turned up dead. Stab wounds and lacerations all over him. And not only that, they found his lungs full of liquid. Like he’d been breathing in chlorine gas. Which was HIS ability. Sounds dangerous I know but trust me he made it work somehow. Anyway, the police and the heroes who were essentially detectives were stumped. It just made no sense. Sure they found bits of evidence but how could he die from his own ability? A lot of heroes with powers like his are immune to it, so why did he die like this? And not only that. They found another note. This time, it said “didn’t expect that one did you? You’re a predictable man, so I’ll give you a head start. Remember tough guy; I’ll be seeing you soon. D.C”

The thought of him being out there pissed me off every single day. You get it now right? He’s dangerous because he’s truly unpredictable. He’s always one step ahead because he’s smarter than most villains. But don’t worry, people who are reading the story of my life. I promise you we get him good. Because we’ve got someone smarter. And that someone was Kyle. I remember it pretty vividly, since I felt the adrenaline rush to my arms the second I was told Team Spark was officially going to be a part of this investigation. Glam gave us a brief rundown “You’ll be able to use your powers outside to their fullest extent if you can. But you must gain permission from your operator who will be granted that power by us. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am!”

And just like that, my first official situation. But its a lot different when you read about it to when you actually live it. Remember I’ve been on both sides. I’ve seen a lot of bad things. Apex and his dumb little mind games don’t bother me too much. But I wasn’t worried at all. I was so mad all I could think about was beating him to death if thats what it took. But I couldn’t have even begun to imagine the things he’d do to me. Or the others….

So yeah. My first official day out in the city not only gave me some newfound confidence, it really opened my eyes. It showed me the kinda man I wanted to be. Well, I guess the kinda person I wanted to be is a more literal way of putting it. And I’m guessing from the last thing I wrote, you noticed that I… I said I killed people. Yeah…yeah I have. Even know, typing this out sat in my bed, listening to my wife sleeping next to me, all I feel is shame and guilt, whenever I remember that yeah; I’m a killer. But back to where I left, no one needed to know. I remember being sat in my room, just playing video games right into the night (couldn’t sleep. Insomnia is a bitch huh?) and I got a knock on my door. It gave me quite a shock, since it was pretty late and I didn’t expect anyone up. I opened my door and there was Mama Glam, who had somehow managed to get to my room without the sound of her wheelchair waking anyone else up. “I heard about the boy. You did well not to follow orders, but unfortunately I can’t allow it to go unpunished.” I nodded, a little disheartened but nevertheless proud of myself. She left and I sat on my bed, just thinking to myself.

My train of thought was going haywire all night. But one thing remained the same. Felicity. She reminded me of Alice…… the way she smiled, the way she spoke. Even the glint in her eyes. It just spoke Alice to me. But I eventually pushed those thoughts to the side. She might remind me if Alice, but she wasn’t the real thing. No one could replace her. I finally managed to get to sleep at sometime in the morning and somehow was up before anyone else. I went into the joint kitchen, made myself some toast and sat at the breakfast counter. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go so I decided is should have something nice before that bloody horn goes off. Suddenly Axel rounds the corner to the kitchen and jumps a little, obviously shocked that I’d be up this early. “Sorry I scared ya” I said, chuckling as I did.

“The hell are you doing up so early?”

“Insomniac. I’m usually up early anyway.”

“Ah. Right”

He moved over to the fridge and opened it, but he did it in a way that made it pretty obvious he wanted to say something but for some reason didn’t find the courage to. Which was weird because Axel is one of the most courageous idiots I’ve ever met. Not counting me of course. After a few agonisingly awkward moments he does a full heel turn grabs my arm and asks

“OHMYGODICANTFIGHTATALLPLEASETEACHME!!!!!!!”

No word of lie, that’s exactly how he said it. Out loud with his voice. That sound actually met my ears in real life. I was taken aback at first, since my impression if Axel was that he never needed anyones help. But hey, every day has its own surprises I guess. So I played along as best I could, just to see if he meant it

“You what?”

“Look I just…”

He really looked like he was struggling to say it, but managed to find the strength.

“I can’t fight okay….”

“Well that’s a lie. You battered those bots and I heard you took down a villain yesterday. How can you not fight?”

“Kyle can defend himself. So can you and Tyler and everyone else. But I can’t…”
“I’m not strong enough….”

Once again, something hit me. I felt the same way. When I looked up, holding Alice in my arms and saw those five sick sonsa fucks looking down at me. I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t strong enough. I saw that in Axel’s eyes.

“You want me to train you up?”

“Please! I’ll pay anything! Any amount, you name it you’ll get it!”

I thought for a moment. I could just ask for something and have him bring it to me. It would be kind of funny wouldn’t it? To see a guy with his attitude bringing me shit just to train him up. But I decided against it. I liked Axel, I thought he was funny and it would’ve been a pretty shitty thing to do. So I made my decision, with a condition of course.

“I’ll do it. Under one condition”

“Name it! I’ll do it!”

“Promise me you’ll listen to Tyler”

“What really? That’s it?

“Do you want the training or not?”

“Yes! Yes, a thousand times yes!”

“Then listen to Tyler. He’s a bit naggy I know but he’s looking out for all of us. In this day and age its rare to find a hero like that anymore.”

“R-right. I won’t let you down sir!”

He gave me a dumb looking salute then ran off, presumably because the horn had sounded and everyone would be getting changed by now. As I made my way back towards my room, the thought just occured to me. “What have I gotten myself into?”. I entered my room to find Axel inspecting my hero clothes, mumbling to himself
“Its the jacket. Its gotta be. Somethin’s special about this thing. I know it”

“Axel”

“Ahh! Oh. Yeah?”

“Get out of my room. I need to get dressed”

“Oh! Yeah ummm….sorry!”

And with that, he was gone again. Oh boy I thought; this is gonna be a ride. I got dressed fairly quickly and went into the common area and sat down, feeling pretty tired from waking up early and the surprise of Axel asking for help. Tyler came and greeted us all in that usual manner he has, but gave us all an announcement

“So, you guys heard of the ceremony slash party thing we have?”

We all shook our heads, very confused as to that. Party? Ceremony?

“Well, every year once the newest recruits come in a get settled, we hold a big ceremony party thing where we just say thanks for joining and let you have a good night. Its a mix of formal informal. Pretty sweet though. Its sometime next week so if you wanna go, get a suit or something and we’ll go”. It sounded pretty cool. Then again, I’m not one for parties. Don’t get me wrong I like going and all, just as long as its with someone I know. I hate being around people I don’t know. Regardless, we all left in good spirits, ready to start the day. Tyler had set up individual patrol routes for us, or more specifically for those who haven’t done one with someone else yet. And as luck would have it, I ended up with Felicity and Axel. We made our way to the industrial district which is a pretty cool place by the way. I spent most of the time just talking to Axel and Fe, about whatever came to our heads. Then, my communicator starts beeping. I press the little button then the earpiece and Tyler’s voice cones through

“You there!?!”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“There’s a disturbance of some kind around your area. Could be a villain but theres been a lot of damage done to one of the factories. You gotta investigate. Report anything you find got it? I’m gonna put you through to Emily. She’s your operator. Just report to her”

“Got it. Umm…. Brick out?”

I heard a beep and a cheery voice comes through. “Hi! I’m Emily!”

“Umm. Hi?”

“Okay so I have the map up right here. Just keep going and take a left at the third block. You should be able to see the factory there”

“Got it”

We made our way to the factory, following Emily’s directions as closely as possible and sure enough, we saw the factory. And disturbance, was an understatement. The whole front of the factory looked like it had been ripped clean off. Like something just tore right through it. Fe took charge pretty quickly, “okay Axel and I need you to start looking for anyone that might be in there. Bring them out here and I’ll see to them” he nodded and catapulted himself deep into the factories main floor. “Jack, I need you to start moving some debris. I’ll call the police for help got it?” I nodded and began moving as much as I could carry at once. Eventually the police did arrive and began searching the area for ant clue as to what or who could’ve done this. It wasn’t a mystery as to what; it had to be someone with a superpower. The real question was who. And why? Why in the middle of the morning and especially while everyone would be either already at work or getting here? I just didn’t make sense. Unless of course. They wanted people to see it. Maybe it was some kind of message. And if I have to say it. It was….

As I went deeper into the factories to clean up, I moved some of the brick walls and found a body. I was about to shout for someone, til I noticed a paper note? What? I put down the chunk of wall, knelt down and took the note. What it said didn’t phase me, but what did was that I recognized the hand writing

“They accept you for now. But do they know of the sins you carry? We do. I’ll see you around tough guy

D.C”

Dominic Carter….

Apex was on the hunt….and it seemed in that instance, that the hunter was now the hunted….

might have visibly shown my disappointment when I found out it was just Thrash. He had somehow managed to burrow his way from the sewers and into the HQ. I mean from the size of him it was entirely possible but the size of his brain? Yeah, nah. Good thing a lot of pros who turned up felt the same way. This wasn’t no accident and Thrash? Well, nuclear radiation fucks with your mind in all kinds of ways. He’s not the brightest star in the sky is what I’m trying to say here but goddamn is he strong. And practically unstoppable. Like nigh unstoppable. If I recall, and im pulling right from the records we have here ‘his body has taken in so much radiation that it has adapted an unbelievable ability to regenerate lost or damaged tissue and even bone matter’. So yeah, not a lot of things work. But I had a plan you know, since I’d been tracking these guys down for while, mostly from memory of the night Alice was taken from me. And my plan was gonna work. I didn’t if I died right then and there, my plan would work dammit!

But the pros had locked us recruits out of the atrium. I get why, obviously. Real villains weren’t like robots in the sense that they were mostly unpredictable and could change their game plan at any point they wanted to. Especially when they were as crazy as Thrash. “Dammit!!!” I was screaming it over and over trying to pry open the door to no avail. Whatever those doors were made of, I wasn’t tough enough to knock em down. The others were there with me, probably wondering what they hell was going on with me. “What’s your problem?” Johnny was the one to ask me. I felt like turning around and undercutting his pretty boy look right off his dumb face (though I don’t think that anymore. Not often anyway) I figured that wouldn’t help. So I explained as best I could “that big green asshat and me have business to take care of. And this DOOR. WON’T. OPEN!!!” I slammed into it some more and I still wouldn’t budge. “Look at the size of him! You wouldn’t last a minute in there. Just rest easy, our instructor has this” Fe of course tried to talk to me but I wasn’t listening. All I could see was that smile of his. As I held Alice on the street where she fell. As I looked up and saw that fucking sick grin he had. The only thing that snapped me out of that trance was surprisingly, Kyle. He had begun picking the damn lock and cracking the key code! “I get it, you want in. If you think you can stop him, then I won’t stop you. Besides I owe you for earlier” and with that the doors opened and I had a good view of what was going on.

It did surprise me however that the others wanted to come. I guess they wanted to watch me get my ass beat but funnily enough that aint what happened. Though it might’ve done a little bit but that’s besides the point. When we got to right where he was, I couldn’t even fucking believe what I saw. He was holding a kid, no older than 7, above his head, threatening to bite his damn legs off! The pros just couldn’t do anything without risking it and trust me; the tension was extreme. And of course, I acted without even thinking. I just knew I had to do something, ANYTHING.

“Hey! 5 tons of fun!”

He looked at me. I clenched my fists, already anticipating every single punch I was gonna throw right at that fuck ugly face of his. He spoke, which shocked even the pros

“S’that it? You so called heros send a kid to stop me cuz yous is too pussy to do it yourselves?! Listen fella, you just go back to your class. You don’t want any of what I be”

I lost it. He didn’t even remember me. And I just lost my shit. I ran as fast as I could, grabbed his wrist with one hand and slammed my palm into his elbow. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say the sound of his arm snapping felt so damn good. But I had bigger problems. I caught the kid and told him to run, then uppercutted ol’ green tits right in his chin. And thats when shit got serious. He roared at me and started clawing at me. I’ll admit, he got a few good hits in but I hit back harder. I started punching him as fast as I could, pinning him to the floor. You know what he does?

He starts laughing. “You think that’s gonna do somethin’? Every punch you throw don’t do nothin’! My bones fix faster than you can break em!” He was right. But he didn’t know what I knew. Hit a wall enough times and eventually, that walls gonna come down. So I played along
“Yeah that’s right! But you feel that don’t you?! You feel it slowing down huh?!?” He gave me a half panicked half angry look “smack a wall with a hammer enough times and its gonna come down! So im gonna see just have far that regeneration of yours can take you!!!” I pushed up the power I had, feeling the adrenaline pumping all through my arms. This was it. There wasn’t any turning back now! I was pumped to the max and I wasn’t gonna stop til this guy couldn’t walk for the rest of his damn life! But I wasn’t watching his arms and he grabbed my face and slammed me has hard as he could into the ground and got a good punch right in my jaw. But that’s wasn’t gonna stop me. I booted his chest harder than I’ve ever tried before and charged at him as a got up. We brawled all over the damn place, knocking over desks and he even smacked me with a damn statue. Hell, I even hit him so hard the ground shook for a split second. But I wasn’t gonna finish. I wasn’t gonna let up. This was a fight I was gonna win no matter how hard he hit, or how much he threw at me. And I could see him wearing down so the bastard tried to be clever. He grabs Felicity the second I ain’t lookin and threaten me. “Now sunshine, you’re gonna give up with silly lil fight. You and all your hero pals are gonna let me wonder right outta here free as the wind. Or else…” he moved her head to expose her neck and opened his mouth, revealing jagged, horrible yellow teeth. Was he really willing to go that far just to get away? You bet your ass he was. I looking into his eyes and saw the exact some sick enjoyment I saw when he killed Alice. My Alice!

I didn’t surrender. I ran right at that bastard and has he tried to bite, Fe had created an icy barrier around her neck, and he got the shock of his life. He dropped her and time seemed to slow for a minute. Guess that’s pure adrenaline but hey, its what happend for me. I pulled back and with all the strength I had left, slammed my fist square into his chest. I felt the bones in my forearm snap and break as he went flying backwards faster than anyone had ever seen. My assumption anyway. He didn’t go down though. He managed to slow himself down and tried to catch his breath. He was winded and now was my chance! I ran at him again, taking off and throwing away my leather jacket as I did, not caring everyone present could see my misshapen and bruised right forearm. He looked up at me and as he did, I jumped and slammed his head into the concrete, breaking it almost totally and finally, knocking this sick fuck out cold. My arm was shattered, but with all the adrenaline, I couldn’t feel it. All I felt was anger. And satisfaction.

I remember blacking out and waking up, back in the medical wing from before. I saw that my arm was in a cast and too my, once again, surprise, Mama Glam and Tyler we’re talking in the same room. They noticed I awoke and came over, with Mama Glam seeming noticeably angry but content with me not being dead. “Ah good, you’re awake. You’re instructor Tyler tells me you beat Thrash to the ground.” I looked at Tyler and back to her. And honestly, saying this made me so happy.

“Hell yeah I did. I’m a hero. Fighting guys like that is what I do best.”

So. As it turns out, the worlds best telepath can keep track of the memories and locations of all the heros under her leadership. Had to say; didn’t see it coming. Should’ve in hindsight but I didn’t. Am I brain dead? Probably. I’ve been hit hard enough to have been legally declared brain dead. By my own assumption anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah, Mama Glam. Worlds best telepath. And now I was sat in her office feeling like I’d just been sent to the principles office. Like a kid. But I sucked it up, since she can read my mind and all. Silently cursing someone don’t work in this instance. I felt unbelievably tense, and with good reason. I was trying not to let on that I was clearing my head but she spoke, breaking me out of my little trance “Jack Barrick. You know what would happen if your previous identity were to be discovered?”. What else could I say to that? Answer; nothing. I nodded in silence. I figured that this was it. I tried, but of course every mistake I made caught up with me. Its not like it wouldn’t. But a man can hope you know? She continued “young man, your performance out there was incompetent and astonishingly dangerous. You could’ve have been killed! Or worse, gotten one of your teammates killed as well!” Those exact words, made me flinch. Trust me sister, to this day you don’t have to remind me what getting someone killed feels like…
“But”. That word right there. Insignificant to some but coming from her? I’ve never felt such a rush of ‘wait what’ in my whole damn life. I tried to reply, but she said my own words back to me “but you didn’t. I know. That’s what were here to discuss”. It gotta say, I was certainly surprised also a little freaked out by the fact that oh you know SHE WAS IN MY BRAIN. MY ACTUAL BRAIN THAT MAKES ME LIVE AND DO THINGS. People don’t seem to realize how freaky that actually it but regardless, she had a few, albeit inspirational, choice words for me. If I recall, the conversation went like this:

“You’re strength is indeed remarkable but it may be so remarkable we can’t even test it properly”

“So I just broke a bunch of robo teachers for nothing?”

“Not necessarily. You see, the training bots are programmed to adapt to the changes of their opponents. If someone’s stressed, the bots go from level one to level 5. This increases their output of pressure and combat experience”

I nodded, actually interested in the things she was telling me. I’m not usually interested in machines or robotics, but when its a part of my dream job, well theres always room for learning.

“However, the RC-34E ‘Bulwark’ in which you utterly pulverized had a massive spike in power output. From level one, to level thirty. And I must say, many of the professionals were impressed by your strength”

I blushed a little. Hearing that from one of my heros was honestly one of the most heartwarming things I’ve heard in a while. Until of course she dropped the atomic bomb of sentences “But unfortunately for your past of villainy, it would be my duty as a protector of the public interest to have you sent to Iron Grid”

And there it was. Iron Grid is a massive, labyrinthine prison for super villains. The whole place is basically one big iron box full of guys that can level mountains and fuck up all kinds of stuff. And she was talking about sending me there. Now I know what you’re thinking. But if she wants to send you there, what kind of shit did you do before?!? Look, yeah I did a lot of bad stuff but I’ll get to that. Trust me. I will get to that. But for now, she was talking about sending me there. But once again, she curved the ball so hard I swear I got hit by an actual ball. “I knew your mother when she was your age. She was exactly the same. Twice as strong and with twice the spirit”. Now that caught my attention and she continued, noticing my new found interest “She said to me when she was pregnant with you that you would and I quote ‘rock this world. There won’t be anyone else like my kid’. And while my duty tells me to arrest you, I have seen you for what you are. You want to do good yes?” I nodded, getting real excited since I had a feeling of what she was gonna say and sure enough she did “Margo was one of my dearest friends. She wanted you to do good, as so I. Which is why, I am allowing you to be fully accepted into this association”. I couldn’t help but grin, ear to ear. I did it! I had actually done it! I was on my way to being the very best of the best! I left that office feeling some happiness I ain’t never felt in a long, long time. Feels good don’t it? You know what I mean right? That kind of feeling where you just feel damn amazing like you could take on Godzilla and beat his lizard ass back to the stone age where his dino….lizard…whatever he is ass belongs. I don’t feel like that often so whenever I do, I cherish it. It ain’t east without Alice and it’ll never be easy without her, but now she’s gone, and thanks to the wonderful, insane, caring bunch of nutcases who stood by me through everything, I learned to look at what I had. And I learned to cherish it.

But that’s now.
Back then, after I left that office, alarms we’re going crazy and a bunch of the toughest pros who ever lived came running past me, almost knocked me over. Hell even Tyler came running past.

“Ty what the hell is goin’ on?!”

“We got a situation down in the main atrium. A villain got in. A big one. He’s threatening some kids here on a trip”

“Any idea who it is?”

“Thrash”

Needles to say. I’d never been so excitedly pissed off in my whole life. I didn’t even have to go looking for the bastards. Looks like they’d come to me.