3 Power Expressed

Amyna stood at the doorway to his parent's home, backpack and sleeping bag in tow. He, Charlie, and Xavier had planned a cave exploration trip, more simply referred to as spelunking. They wanted to have one last adventure before transitioning into their adult lives. The chances of ever seeing Xavier again were also low, with his acceptance into the Protector Training Program and subsequent duty to serve as the Protector of his assigned location.

In front of Amyna stood his mother and father. They were ecstatic over his test results, and even more ecstatic when he was accepted into the local college. With just a week to go before the start of the semester, the time was ripe for a trip.

"You've worked hard. You deserve the rest." Adrian Anthropos, Amyna's father, spoke with pride. "Just remember for when you get back, this is a world with powerful individuals who far surpass you and I. To compete you-"

"I know, I know. I have to work twice as hard." Amyna sighed. His father was certainly always supportive of him, just perhaps a bit too supportive.

Shaking his head, Adrian iterated, "No. Not twice as hard. Not triply hard. You have to work four times as hard in a world of superpowers. You understand?"

"I got it, Dad. I got it." Amyna shook his head impatiently, before his trademark smile flashed once more onto his face. "I'll come back refreshed and ready to grind."

"Do you even know what you're working towards?" Eliana chirped in from the side, trying to moderate this budding workaholism.

Amyna just shook his head with a grin. "Nope. That's why I just try my hand at everything."

From outside the door an old horn weakly warbled, barely audible over the sound of the rickety engine.

"That's Charlie." Amyna hurriedly hugged his parents before rushing out the door with his belongings. He hopped into the back Charlie's old 1950's era car barely held together by scrap. As Amyna waved one last time to his parents, Charlie slammed the gas pedal, taking off in a cloud of dirt, while Xavier cheered him on from the passenger seat.

Adrian scowled at the diminishing dust cloud. "Those friends of his are reckless."

"But they're good for him." Eliana hugged her husband's arm and softly spoke.

Adrian nodded, offering his wife a gentle smile and a hug, before taking note of the time on her watch. At the same moment, Eliana noticed the time on his. The couple's eyes widened as they scrambled from each other's embrace, shouting in unison. "Crap! I have to go to work!"

...

Charlie's old car whipped around the dusty curve of road, leaving clouds in its wake, as the three passengers obnoxiously sang an old song from the wild era before Steel Lance. Despite its questionable message, the tune was quite catchy.

"Reach for the Power! Or Reach for the Skies!

I will devour! Your collective lies!

Take up your power! Or just go die!

There is no future where the weak remain alive!"

The world should consider itself lucky there wasn't an audience to their performance.

"Hey, Amyna," X turned in his seat to talk. "What do you think you'd have done if you were born back then?"

He didn't have to ask what X meant by 'back then.' Amyna thought it over and finally shrugged. "I guess I'd have died." He laughed, "Good thing Steel Lance came along first, am I right?"

Charlie laughed along with him, but Xavier's face remained stoic. "You're selling yourself short." X turned back around, apparently not caring to expound any further.

"Well, we're here." Charlie broke the silence as the vehicle pulled to a slow stop facing a massive cliff face towering above them. In the surface of the cliff large cracks loomed, which led to passages underground. These were the caves they'd be exploring. They weren't exactly a secret; these caves were some of the most frequented by spelunkers in the area, hence the brochure inspiring the group to travel. However, the trio hoped to discover something new. In caves like this, it was never quite an impossibility.

"We're in luck. There's no one else here." Xavier hopped out of the car and stared upwards at the massive cliffs. "That's fucking massive. You think we could climb that?"

Amyna stepped out right behind him and stared upwards as well. "Maybe. If we had the equipment." He smiled at his friend. "Its a shame you can only walk through walls, otherwise the caves would be a cinch to explore."

X shook his head regretfully, "It's the dumbest thing. Why only walls? Floors and ceilings are basically the same thing."

Charlie laughed and slung his lengthy arm around Xavier. "Hey, now. You got nothing to complain about. I can only intuit someone's feelings when they cough. Hardly what I'd call a power."

Shoving aside the bony arm from his shoulders, X griped. "Are you sure your long limbs aren't some kind of power? Seriously, they're unnatural."

"Nope, Just a 7 foot father and an 8 foot mother." Charlie started to run towards the closest cave entrance. "Race you!" He shouted only after he started running.

"Bastard, he's already got an advantage. Does he really need the head start?" Xavier grumbled but didn't hesitate to chase after. Amyna followed closely on their heels.

The trio of young men took their first steps into the dark underground, flashlights firmly affixed to their heads. As they entered deeper, they would occasionally catch glimpses of gleaming crystals, but they would quickly fade from view once exposed to light. It was a common occurrence in this altered Earth's caves. As it got later in the day, they found an area with a natural vent to the open air. They stopped there for the remainder of the night, huddled around a portable heater and snacking on the non-perishable foods they'd brought along for the journey.

"X?" As they lounged around the softly glowing heater, Amyna grabbed his friends attention. "What did you mean when you said I was selling myself short?"

Xavier kept a stony expression, holding his silence for what seemed like ages. Finally he spoke up, as if only now piecing together the best reply. "You think you're powerless. But you overpowered me."

Amyna just blinked in confusion. "No, I don't think so..." He tried to recall a time he'd ever done something remotely resembling overpowering his friend.

X glared at him in frustration. He spoke roughly, like his words were breaking through layers of cement to be heard. "I hated you, Amyna. I saw you never afraid of anything, despite what I viewed as obvious weakness. You always kept that stupid grin on your face, no matter what. I thought you were an idiot who didn't know how bad the world was."

Amyna kept his silence. He'd never heard this before, so he knew it must be something Xavier needed to say now.

"You remember Ben? That big, fat bastard with the knockout farts?" X asked his question with a stone-cold seriousness.

"My God. That's pretty mean, X." Charlie admonished, but his mischievously grinning face belied his tone.

"Fuck him. He was mean too." Xavier shot back without missing a beat. "Anyway, that fat piece of shit, right? I saw you one day when he was still picking on you, surrounded by his gas-masked posse, making you smell his horrid super-farts. But you just laughed. You said they were like a meal you could eat with your nose, and if you could bottle the scent you would. You even came to school the next day with a bottle of perfume labeled Ben's farts. You made a big show of spraying it all over yourself and everyone else. You turned the whole joke around, and that's when I realized. You're not powerless. That stupid smile I used to hate? It was your power being expressed. You have a power I'll never have. I couldn't hate you anymore after that. I could only admire you."

Amyna took in these words, then smiled as he punched his friend on the arm. "God, you're always so dramatic."

"Hey at least you're not Nissa. That redhead from my class? I hear her power is just inhuman levels of patience. I think I'd rather be powerless." Charlie naturally couldn't help but join in on the heckling.

Amyna and Xavier both made noises of disgust, before the trio cackled together in amusement.

Then the sky shattered.