Training and Resolve

The next morning, John woke up early and began pushing himself to his limits. He started by trying to max out his speed, which he was able to cross 100 meters in under five seconds. Next he tested how far his standing long jump was, which was 10 meters. Then he tested how much he could lift, so he went over to a SUV and lifted one side off the ground. After all this testing he felt quite tired, and realized that strength was his likely weak spot. After his workout, he went to school. Though he didn't struggle to be social, he only really had one decent friend. Her name was Jenelle Perkins. She grew up in San Francisco, and got into school because of her superb grades and strength. They were always great friends because they never judged each other for their own achievements and flaws. She was always held high for being class president, and got a lot of grief from others in their grade for being friends with John. He always got a bad reputation for getting into fights and helping weak kids. She never understood why people scrutinized him for helping people, but she new that was just the way the world worked. John always got beat up because he had no powers in a school of people that had them. But he always made sure to put in his two cents before he had to run. So she would always patch him up, and he always helped her with homework. Though she had the facade of being super smart, she always struggled keeping up with her homework because she was overwhelmed by trying to balance time with sports, student council, and school work. That day after school, they decided to go to the library after school. They never liked meeting at the school library because it always attracted too much attention. "Hey Jenelle, would you mind if someone joined us today? I was supposed to hang out with him, but I forgot we already made plans."

"Sure, who is it?"

"Jason Scott. He's the kid who won the science fair and won the math competition."

"Yeah, sounds good. But why would he want to hang out with us?"

"Oh, he got attacked yesterday so I helped him out."

"Sounds like John Smith. Always helping people with no plan."

"Yeah, I know. Though its something I know I need to work on, its just part of my nature."

"And you don't think I don't know that already? But anyways, it sounds like we'll have a productive study session."

"Don't make it sound more formal than it is. You know why were really meeting."

"Yeah, you gotta show me later. From what you said earlier, you have more physical abilities than the pros. Maybe you can get into the pros early with strengths like that."

"Maybe, but my abilities are a bit too extreme for the pros. I'd have to got into the ACL. Maybe that's something for you, nature goddess."

"Hey, what did I say about calling me that. I hear it enough from the kids at school. I don't need it from you."

"Fair enough, lets get going."

Once they got their, they saw Jason waiting out front. After down basic introductions, they went inside and finished their homework really quick. After that, they began to discuss Johns new found powers. Jason was astounded by Johns findings, and then added "And your 100% sure thats the power you have?"

"No wholeheartedly, but it all adds up. I think it's just something that will naturally evolve over time, but who knows. Until I can do something that we can see, I can't confirm it. Maybe I'll get the ability to teleport or something."

Before Jason could talk, Jenelle cut in " Speaking of powers, did you hear about the kid that developed gravity powers!"

"Yeah", added Jason. "But it was tragic that he was crushed by his own power. How many has it been that have done that so far."

John added "I think thats 15 now. It's such a strong power, but nobody can control it. And what's even worse is they never live long enough for people to figure out what gravity is."

Jenelle was about to talk, when a group of kids walked over to them. A boy with red colored hair then began to insult them. "Oh look folks, its the misfits. The brains, the beauty, and the supposed brawn."

Jenelle was about to say something, but then John out his hand in her shoulder. He stood up and then jumped the 10 feet to where the kid was standing. "How about you say that straight to my face this time."

He looked surprised for a moment, but then added "Ha, you think you scare me. Your just a failed attempt at a hero who can't put his money where his mouth is."

John stared at him, and then realized he was one of the people that attached Jason last night. "So how's your buddy doing. Heard he got struck by lightning."

With that, he mad the kid snap. As he swung, John could almost feel the attack coming before eh threw it. So he shifted sideways, grabbed him by the shoulder and tricep, and slammed him to the floor. With that, one of the kids then tired to jump on him with a blade in hand. Before the kid could see it coming, he was sidekicked and flew into the wall behind him. Then the girl who was with him began charging up a fireball. John rushed over and grabbed her hand. The fire suddenly disapated, and he said "I personally don't like beating up girls, so I suggest you run before you make me."

With that, she bolted away and ran straight out the door. Soon a libraryan came over and said "What's going on over here."

By that time, John, Jenelle, and Jason had moved the kids behind a bookcase. John said "Nothing, just a girl who got scared."

She looked at John and said "Hey, no powers allowed inside the building!"

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes are purple, and your right hand is eminating a purple glow."

As John looked down, his hand was giving off this purple substance, but that wasn't the worst if it. His vision suddenly changed, and everything changed. The librarian was red, and he could see through all the bookshelfs and see over sixty heat signatures in this area if the library. As the turned around, he saw where Jenelle and Jason were standing, but only saw heat signatures. The two signatures suddenly went dim, and he passed out. He awoke to find himself being stood over by a cop and his two friends. "Hey son, are you ok?"

John was still confused, but muttered out "Yeah, I think so. I just need to rest for a bit."

He looked at him, and one of his eyes was still purple. "Do you two know of him ever having powers. I looked him up with the information you gave me, and it says he has none."

Jenelle then began to explain. "That was the reason we were hear for. He noticed having abnormal abilities recently, and we came to talk about it. Then some kids from school confronted us in hear earlier and attacked us. Their knocked out behind the shelves over their." She pointed out to where they were, and then the cop checked if they were alright. One kid had a criminal history, while the other was a kid from their school. All he had to do was scan their face, and their whole record came up. "And were these the only kids that attacked you?"

"No, there was another girls who tried to, but John stopped her before she did. Then she ran."

"Ok. I would need you two to come with me, but your story checks out. I had someone check the footage and it all adds up. Thanks for your cooperation. I think we can handle this from here, but I will have to inform Johns parents about the situation."

John then blurted out "Please don't."

"Sorry kid, rules are rules. Your lucky I don't have to bring you back to the station. I suggest you go get checked out by a doctor."

After that whole ordeal went down, they took John to a walk in clinic. Luckily there was no one else their, so they got in quickly. Jason and Jenelle were asked to wait outside until the examination was over. After some tests were done, they were allowed to come in. Shorty after, the doctor came in. "John, wouldn't normally let your friends in, but you aren't at full function. So lets just get to what we found. It seems like there was stopped blood flow to the brain at one point and was the likely cause of him passing out. Besides that, we see no problems with John. We also ran an ability test, and it came back positive. The odd thing was that we found no relative relation of what ability he may have, so we figured he likely has one not on our database. Though this isn't common, its not irregular either. Many variations of abilities show up, and are documented as not in the database. Besides that, we found nothing wrong with him. He's just going to need to rest and stay hydrated. Any questions?"

After no one had no further questions, they left. John had to pay for it out of pocket, but that was alright. He didn't need the money for karate class anyway. Once he got back to the school, Jenelle went off to the girls dorm. As Jason and John went to John's room, he got a phone call from a number he hadn't seen in six years.