“So, let’s see what else you can do,” Sarah said. “Try doing a pushup now with your powers on.”
“Hold this.” I gave the meteorite back to Sarah, dropped to my hands and tried doing a pushup. It was easy! I pumped up and down and did about thirty in less than half a minute without breaking a sweat. I put one hand behind my back and did a one-handed pushup. And then I did ten more. Easy! I couldn’t help but grin.
“Nice!” my sister said, sounding impressed.
“How about this!” I put one finger down and pushed up. I did it! Again and again. It was weird because I could feel my finger digging into the dirt beneath to withhold my weight, but it didn’t hurt, and it didn’t strain me at all.
I’m strong! I thought with a laugh. I placed both hands down and lifted my feet into to the air, doing a handstand. I’d never done a handstand before, but it seemed so easy with my new strength. I did have to focus on keeping my feet in the air, but my muscles reacted quickly and powerfully to keep me balanced. I could still feel the tingling feeling coursing through my limbs like a swarm of tiny electric spiders. I took a breath, lowered my body, and then pushed up. It was a hand-standing pushup. Again, easy. I did several more. I could tell it was harder than a normal pushup, but it still felt far from my strength’s limit.
I returned to my feet and bounced up and down. I was feeling great!
“Wow,” Sarah whispered behind me. “You’re strong! Like Chuck Norris strong!”
I laughed looking at my arms and frowned. “I don’t look like Chuck Norris, though.” Sadly, my muscles didn’t look any bigger than they had before. That tingling feeling must supercharge my body without changing its appearance, I concluded. Too bad. I wouldn’t have minded a super body with a six-pack and huge biceps.
“Yeah, well,” Sarah said. “No one does. When Chuck Norris looks in a mirror, it shatters, because not even glass is stupid enough to get between Chuck Norris and Chuck Norris.”
I laughed. “Well, can Chuck Norris do this?”
Eager to test my limits, I walked over to the right side of the car, bent my knees, grabbed the bottom of it and lifted. The tingling energy surged through my arms. The car groaned as I raised it up to my chest, two wheels in the air. I propped it up with one hand, reached under with my other hand and hoisted up the left side of the vehicle, causing all four wheels to become airborne. The metal bent around my fingers as I slowly lifted the car above my head, sand falling off the tires.
Sarah blew a soft whistle behind me. “Whoa…”
I picked up a car! And it didn’t even seem that heavy to me! It was like holding a large, fold-up table over my head—bulky, but light. I gently placed the car back on the ground with a satisfying thud and dusted off my hands.
“Forget Chuck Norris,” my sister said. “You're more like—”
“Orion!” I said.
She tilted her head and frowned. “What’s with you and that mythological giant anyway?”
“No idea, but there’s obviously something connected between my powers, that blue stone, and the Orion constellation. I have no idea how or why, but the correlation is definitely there.”
“Well, at least now we know what your superhero identity should be.”
“Superhero? Remember, I still haven’t agreed to any superhero-ing. I don’t want to be a vigilante!”
“I know. I know. I was just saying, if you were a superhero… Orion would be an awesome name.”
I didn’t disagree with that. And I wouldn’t admit that the idea of being a super hero sounded thrilling. I just didn’t want to be a criminal in order to be a hero. The comic books fantasized it too much. Plus, even being a hero sounded like a really big deal. I’m no hero, I thought.
“I need to keep practicing,” I told her. “Not so I can be some super hero, but so I can get better at controlling my powers and keeping them a secret. I don’t want anyone to know besides you and Zack.”
“Not even your girlfriend Angela?” Disappointment saturated Sarah’s tone.
“She’s not my girlfriend! And no, not even her. She might pressure me into vigilantism too.”
My little sister put a hand on her hip and glared at me. “You’re being ridiculous, Michael! Just a few days ago we discovered that super powers are real! What are the chances that the one person lucky enough to get those powers was my over-obedient brother who won’t even use them to do any good in the world?”
I glared back at her. “I am doing good… by not doing anything bad. Now step back—”
“—by doing nothing.”
“—I’m going to practice running again. Let’s see how long it takes me to run to Red Rock and back.”
“That’s like two miles from here! I don’t want to wait around all night for you.”
“You won’t.” I leaned forward to take my first step just as the world slowed down around me. It wasn’t like time slowed down, more like my senses sharpened so much that I could take in more in less time. I started what I thought would be a light jog, but once my legs started pumping, they naturally went several times faster than expected, and in less than a second, I was at the end of the clearing. I slowed to a stop, but it took longer than I thought, and I stumbled into a bush.
“Whoa,” I said to myself. “Gotta work on stopping.” I scrambled out of the bush and faced the hill where Red Rock was located. I took a deep breath, shook my hands, and broke into a run again. The wind hit me hard as I pushed forward; I had to squint my eyes because of it. I sprinted around bushes and cacti in a blur.
I’m getting the hang of this! I thought. A long row of bushes blocked my path in front of me. Instead of speeding around them, I jumped, hurtling them easily, and kept on running. This is awesome! Scary and dangerous, but awesome! I never thought I would ever enjoy running this much!
I reached the top of a small hill, skid to a stop, and glanced behind me. After the dust cloud dispersed, I could see the Verde Ranch clearing in the distance. I love that I can see in the dark, I thought. But I can’t see Sarah; she’s too far away. I think I ran about a half mile stretch in what… a couple seconds? I was running fast! Much faster than a car could drive. Maybe even faster than a plane. I wonder if I could break the sound barrier if I pushed myself.
I looked toward Red Rock and scanned out my off-road path to get there. I felt the tingling surge through my legs as I leaned forward into a sprint, squinting my eyes. I’m going to need some goggles.
I grinned from ear to ear as I ran through the dark desert. My legs didn’t burn at all yet, maybe eventually they would—like after a hundred miles! I’m never going to use the car again! I thought.
Suddenly a sharp, agonizing pain twisted in my gut. I started to slow down, gasping. My vision went fuzzy and a terrible, excruciating pain wracked my whole body all at once—like the sharp pain from a migraine, but everywhere. I screamed in pain, shocked by how instantaneous this it had hit me. Where had it come from? I tried to stop running, but lost my balance and careened off a small cliff and fell into a dry wash, the rocks tearing into my flesh as I rolled to a stop—my powers no longer protected my skin.
I lay there on my back, trying to catch my breath, going into shock. The tingling feeling had vanished, and in its place was a vortex in my gut, like a black hole sapping my life away, killing me slowly. My vision blurred, and then everything went black.
Chapter 15
Ray
“What are you drawing?” Britney asked as she leaned over her desk to get a glimpse.
I quickly shut my notebook. “Nothing,” I said. “I was just… doodling.”
“Doodling?” she said with a raised eyebrow. “You never doodle. Let me see.” She reached over to snag the notebook from me, but I pulled it away. Her teasing smile faded.
“Okay,” I said. “Truth is… I was actually taking notes. We have an exam coming up.”
She frowned. We both glanced up at Mr. Thompson, our history teacher. It was like he was doing a slow waltz between the whit
e board and his book on the podium. He would read something from the text book about the judiciary system, summarize it to the class, write it up on the board, and then do it all over again. Practically every student was either looking at their phones or sleeping on their desks. It was true that we had an exam coming up next week, but pretty much everyone passed—it was open book after all.
Britney looked back at me with narrowed eyes. “Fine,” she said sarcastically as she pulled up her phone. “I’m taking notes too.” She made it very apparent that she was moping through social media.
I rolled my eyes and opened my notebook, covering it with my arms so nobody could see it. On the page before me was a drawing of me. The superhero me.
I wasn’t very artistically talented, but it was good enough to get the gist. I’d drawn myself with a black leather jacket, blue jeans, a baseball cap with the bill pulled down, and aviator sunglasses to hide my identity. If I was going to save people in this city, then I wanted to do it in style. There was no way I’d ever be one of those comic book superheroes with a colorful unitard and a cape. Whoever came up with the idea that super humans should save the day in their multicolored underwear had to be high on something. Besides, how in the world would I ever make a costume like that? I’m no seamstress!
However, having a consistent outfit was important. The more often criminals and bystanders witnessed the Burn with the same clothing, the sooner they’d recognize that he’s not a guy to mess with. The Burn… I chuckled and erased that name off of my page. Too stupid, I thought. Besides, I haven’t burnt anything except that tree on accident. I don’t even know how I did it. I hadn’t come up with a good name yet. I wanted to make a name for myself that everyone in the city recognized. A name that villains feared, citizens cheered, and women adored. Maybe the Burn isn’t that stupid. I wrote the name down again.
Britney had every reason to be suspicious; I hadn’t sketched anything in class since sixth grade. Drawing in class was a super geeky thing to do. I didn’t want anyone to know the school’s star football player and most popular guy at school would do something so… geeky. I had a reputation to fill. Well… at least I used to. I had, after all, just been kicked off of the football team. I couldn’t be that guy anymore. That ship had sailed. That dream had been crushed. My whole identity was going through a major shift from popular football star to the Burn. I shook my head and erased the name again.
I was sure my friends would notice a change in me, but whatever happened, I didn’t want them to know I was a superhuman. None of them were good at keeping secrets. If the world found out I was the… the Rock, then I could never get the benefits of living a normal life. I couldn’t go to the movies without drawing unwanted attention. Every scientist would want a sample of my blood. And most of all, I still had a smidgen of hope that I could be a professional football star. If I improved in controlling my powers, then I could play without hurting anyone, but still be good enough to reach the Hall of Fame. Only if no one knew I was the Rock. I grunted and erased that name. Already taken.
I started when the bell rang, nearly losing my pencil. Most of the students were startled too as they woke up from their naps. Britney didn’t say anything to me as we picked up our backpacks and left. Apparently, she was giving me the silent treatment. I passed by one student, a girl with glasses whose name I didn’t know, who was actually writing her last line of notes before Mr. Thompson erased what he’d written on the white board. I rolled my eyes.
School seemed so meaningless now. Just a week ago, school performance was important only so I could be eligible to play sports and get accepted to college football. Now that football was most likely out of the picture, I had no desire to go to school. Especially if I could be fighting crime all day as… Inferno. Then again, I wouldn’t be getting paid to be a superhero. Would I need to get a job on the side? Maybe school was important? I blew some air out of my mouth, feeling overwhelmed. No… who would pay a guy named Inferno?
I pushed open the doors that led outside to the school plaza. It was warm outside, late September in Arizona. Everyone was heading home, the last class had just ended. I passed by some freshman girls who gave me a funny look. That wasn’t too rare. Usually they would whisper to each other something like, “Is that Ray, the quarterback? He’s so hot. He’s taller up close.” But, then I noticed that more students than normal were giving me funny looks and pointing at me. Maybe it’s because I got kicked off the team, I wondered. Did word of that spread that fast? That was just yesterday.
I noticed Doug was walking toward me with a stern expression. I hadn’t seen him since yesterday. We met near the center of the plaza. “Dude, what’s going on?” he asked.
“Good question,” I responded, looking around. “Everyone’s looking at me like I shot the principal or something.”
“Or something,” he said. “You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
He shook his head as if he didn’t believe me and gave me a serious look. “Bro, tell me what’s going on? Yesterday you threw the ball several hundred yards over the fence, and then you nearly killed James with a stiff-arm. How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, man,” I lied as I took a couple steps away from him. I was trying to come up with a story, but my mind drew a blank. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to hurt James.” That much was true.
Doug looked at me like I’d betrayed him somehow. “Ray, what about what happened after practice?”
“What do you mean? Nothing happened.”
He rolled his eyes, forked out his phone, and pulled up a news video. “This went viral this morning. Already has several million views.”
I held the phone and watched the video play. “Yesterday,” said a female reporter, “something extraordinary occurred in a local gas station in Tucson, Arizona. When a crook attempts to rob the store, a young man, heroically jumps into action and detains the would-be robber.”
My stomach dropped. I glanced up at Doug, my mouth gaping open. “Keep watching,” he said. “It gets better.”
“While the young man’s heroism is fascinating,” the reporter continued, “the way in which he stops the crook is especially extraordinary. The scuffle was caught on camera, and you may not believe your eyes as you watch the scene. We want you to know that this video has not been tampered with or edited in any way.”
A video of the gas station came up with poor resolution, but clear enough to see that it was remarkable. I could see myself standing behind the crook as he pointed the gun at the cashier. The video caught it all. It showed me snatch the gun away from him, break it with my bare hands, and then push him out the window. While the video played, the reporter explained to the viewers that I had unbelievably expressed what appeared to be superhuman abilities in the scuffle. Even though the video was a little fuzzy, the viewers could clearly tell that I had been moving inhumanly fast and was inhumanly strong. My stomach sunk deeper.
The video cut back to the female reporter. “We go now,” she said, “to the Super Hero Scuffle in Tucson for some eyewitness testimonials.”
“He saved my life,” said the lady cashier in a quivering voice. “I still don’t understand how he did it, but I’m grateful.”
“Yes, he is definitely a super hero,” said an older lady with blonde hair. I recognized her from the store. “And I really mean super. It was unbelievable what he did. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. And I’m a very realistic person. Not superstitious at all. And everyone in the store said they saw the same thing. He moved in a blur, and snapped a gun in half like it was made out of plastic! And his eyes—this is going to sound really crazy, but it’s true—they were glowing!”
“He was young,” said a middle aged guy with a hat on. “Probably still in high school. Immature too. I tried to get him to stick around when the police came, but he took off in his truck. Maybe he didn’t want anyone to recognize him.”
“Would you consider him
a super human?” a reporter asked off screen.
“Uh, I don’t know,” he said. “I showed up right when he threw the guy through the window. It seemed pretty incredible for a kid his age, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he’s Superman or anything.”
“Were his eyes glowing?”
“Um, yeah, actually they were, now that you mention it. But, you can do anything with contacts these days, right?”
The video cut to another guy that I didn’t recognize. “It was amazing!” he said. “It was like straight out of the movies. Except that I think the kid was holding back, honestly. I think that if he wanted to, he could have blown up the whole gas station with his laser vision!”
“Would you say he’s a super human, then?” the reporter asked.
“Oh yeah. He’s super human alright. No doubt about it.”
The video cut back to replay the scuffle in the store. The reporter spoke while it played. “The majority of the eyewitnesses claim that the young hero was indeed a super human. While this may seem incredible, the video does not lie. And I repeat, that it has not been tampered with.” The video froze on a close-up on my face. I held my breath. “The young man has been identified as 17-year old, Ray Simmons, Tucson High School student and football team’s quarterback. Is he really a super human? We—”
I shoved the phone back into Doug’s hands before the video finished. I pulled on my backpack’s straps and started speed walking, panicked. What was I going to do? Why hadn’t I been more careful at the gas station? Doug followed. “They identified you, Ray,” he said. “I wouldn’t have believed this video for a second if I hadn’t seen what you did during football practice.”
“It was all an accident, okay!” I snapped. “I didn’t mean to throw the ball that far. I didn’t mean to hurt James. And at the gas station I didn’t—”
“—expect to get caught on camera,” Doug interrupted. I kept on walking, trying to get to my truck and get out of here a soon as possible. A lot of students were staring and pointing at me as I walked by. “So tell me,” Doug said. “Are you a super human or not? Are you an alien from Krypton or something?”
Orion: A Heroic Novel Page 9