Volt

[2 days prior]

He opened his eyes.

He immediately winced as the pale, blinding white ceiling greeted his point of view. He slowly geared his head around, attempting to gather an understanding of his current predicament. He realized the soft yet firm mattress against his back and the loose gown he woke up in. 

Volt gave a nod of his head, now knowing he was in a hospital.

He held up his arm to the ceiling, examining its texture. Volt had wondered why nothing had changed. Ever since Boss had injected him with that serum, he had felt just fine.

"Well..I guess that doesn't explain why I'm in a hospital.." He murmured to himself. "Come to think of it, why am I here?" 

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught him off guard, as he stared at the two men who had just entered his room. He watched as the second man to enter slid the door behind him and locked it.

The two men approached Volts bed without so much as exchanging words with each other. They both wore perfectly fitted black suits. Their uniforms were entirely black, unlike the common white dress shirt and tie. No, even the shirt was black, the tie, the waistcoat. Volt noticed that both men even had the same brand of watch on the same wrist for each. 

"Who..Who are you?!" 

Volt gulped nervously.

"Good morning Volt Nielsen" the first man greeted, his voice an uncanny level of calm. He grabbed a chair and sat it down on the side of Volts bed. "My name is Lloyd Katz. This," he gestured to the other man, who had remained standing. "Conrad Bach. We're just here to ask you a few questions." 

 Volt could only nod as Lloyd took out a card from his suit pocket and handed it over. "I suspect you'd like to know more about us before moving forward." Lloyd crossed his hands. 

Volt inspected the card Lloyd handed to him. It was entirely white. He read aloud the articulate font,  "Lloyd Katz and Conrad Bach, field workers for the N.C.H" He thought for a moment and turned the card over. Nothing.

"N.C.H huh..? What could the Coalition of Heroes need from me..?" The unspoken pressure was imminent, a strong sense of fear shooting down Volts spine as the two men stared him down. 

"By any chance, do you happen to recall anything from last night?" Conrad asked, his voice weighty. Volt couldn't see the man's eyes behind his dark glasses. 

"N-no...I was only told it would be beneficial for me...Wait..How do you know about that?!" 

"Do you recall the events prior to your injection?" Bach continued, not fazed at all by Volt's growing anxiety.

"Of course, I- '' He rubbed his head and squinted, attempting to replay the night over again in his head. "Boss approached me at Jes's Drinks- that's the bar I frequent- and said uh, how're ya? So um..I told him how I had been low on money lately and well, he offered me a solution." He shrugged. The men stared at him. He laughed nervously and continued. "Anyway, I said shoot, why not, right?" 

"You just...Went with him?" Lloyd questioned, adjusting his sleeve. 

"Yeah..Times are hard y'know?" 

"I see." Katz and Bach exchanged a look that read "This guy…" 

"Let's go then."

"Right."

Lloyd  stood and adjusted his sleeve again, nodding to Volt. "Thank you for your cooperation today." He made his way to the door, Bach following close behind.

"Huh.."

After the agents left Volt heard the sound of tiny, rapidly approaching footsteps. 

"Vanessa!!" 

"Dad!!" 

His daughter leapt into his arms, hugging her father tightly. Volt returned the hug as his mother entered the room. He smiled at her from behind his daughter's wild hair. 

"Nessa...You haven't been using your correct hair products have you?" 

His young daughter smiled sheepishly. She was only six but was incredibly smart for her age, however she still made common childlike mistakes. 

"Well.."

-

-

-

-

[That night]

"So?"

"He's no threat. Probably another failure, sir." 

"..."

"..sir?" 

Dr. Aurora sighed, rubbing his temples. He squeezed his eyes shut taking a moment to think. Leaning against his car, Dr Aurora glanced out to the active lights and noises coming from Hollow City. It seemed the place never slept, as if it itself were a living organism. It's lights beat with a resemblance of a heartbeat. 

"You know," He took out a cigarette, lighting it and inhaling deeply. 

"This place, Hollow City...What an opportunity it is to live here." He held up his lighter to the largest building, the Citadel of the Coalition. From his point of view, the lighter was the exact same size. 

"My work did not fail. Instead, we say 'it just hasn't had the proper chance to shine' " He flicked his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out.

Lloyd gulped, looking everywhere around himself. He tugged on his sleeve.

Dr Aurora threw him a rather large wad of cash. "Continue as you were and lay low. You'll be contacted for your next assignment soon."

Dr Aurora waited a few moments after Lloyd had left to retrieve a device from his pocket. 

"As you said Volt, it's your time."

-

-

-

-

[Current day]

"So. You get cornered by some furries, get your stuff stolen, basically get JUMPED and a face full of goop and now you have superpowers?" 

Alex slumped his shoulders and hung his head low. After discovering he could manifest some sort of shield he immediately called Stefani, who now sat on his couch. Appropriately she flew over in a matter of minutes, almost breaking his room window in the process of landing.

Apparently she found it necessary to invite her friend, Hazel, who he had never met before. It was the nature of their dynamic, he inwardly sighed.

"Yes that's...Exactly. Though I'm not sure if the powers are permanent, or the side effects." He finished. 

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Side effects? What do you mean?"

Alex gulped and rubbed his hands together. Stefani and Hazel exchanged a look. 

"Well.." 

The girls leaned in closer as Alex began to sweat.

"I, uh," 

They came closer.

"My limbs. They uh.."

Closer.

"STRETCH! THEY CAN STRETCH!" He shouted.

"..."

"..."

"Huh." 

"I was expecting more like, badass I guess. Maybe somethin' edgy?" Hazel looked at Stefani who nodded in total agreement.

Alex stared at them in shock. "What?!" 

Hazel shrugged and crossed her legs. "Maybe stretching isn't a side effect, more like a second power. It can also be considered a gift seeing as your body takes no real damage." 

"Yeah, I'm glad it's something so on the nose y'know?" 

"Just what the hell do you two mean?! My life has been flipped upside and this is what you have to say?!" Alex stood up in annoyment and paced around the room. 

"Relax, it really isn't so bad. Now you have an easier chance at pursuing a hero career." Hazel attempted to ease his anxieties, unknowing of his ideals. Stefani scoffed.

"Nah, don't say that. Guy's got a personal vendetta against superheroes and the job." 

Alex paused. "It's not like that!!"

"Okay!"  Hazel outstretched her arms in an attempt to diffuse the moment. 

"Alex, it's not unheard of for Powers to live normal lives, right? I think we can figure something out…" She kept rambling.

Stefani abruptly stood and walked over to a few photos Alex had framed, leaving the other two to keep chatting. She took time to admire each photo, some recent and some old. She stopped particularly on a photo of Alex's entire family, both of his sisters and parents. It was old and Alex looked happy. 

"Normal lives…" the all too familiar sensation of her phone buzzing to life alerted her. She walked back over to her two friends cursing as she slid her phone back in its place.

"I've been requested for a job, something about a whale man. " She threw her coat on the couch and looked at Hazel. "Coming?"

Hazel shook her head. "I'd like to hang out with Alex some more." 

"Alright."

 She opened the window she had almost destroyed, and dived out of it. Moments later she appeared before them, uniform adorned and eyes blazing red. 

"Alex..With this opportunity, you can protect them.." She jabbed a thumb to the photo of his family. He looked at the photo and back at her, a hint of fear on his face. 

"Just consider it, ok?" And with that she peaced out and flew off, a trail of bright red following after her like a comet's tail.

-

-

-

-

"Urfhhhghhhhh RAHHH!!! NARWHAL!!! NARWHAL!!!!!!" Narwhal man smashed and threw around cars as if they were well, toy cars.

A particular young girl had been estranged from her parents, sobbing and screaming for them. The young girl's dismay caught the attention of the raging beast, who snapped his head around and zoned in. 

"Kid...Girl..RAHHH!!" He roared and charged the child, aiming the 5ft deadly sharp horn on his head right at her. The girl in turn screeched in terror and tried to move from her spot but couldn't. Her dress was stuck! 

"RAHHH!! NARWHAL NARWHAL NARWH-'' Just before he could reach the girl, just a few steps before, a sudden fist made contact with his face from the side. It all appeared to happen in slow motion; the girl watched as his cheek jiggled from the impact, blood and spit and teeth flying everywhere. She saw the hero who saved her shoot her a thumbs up and a wink, and then the monster flew off and crashed through the street. Just like that.

The girl watched as the hero stood up and blew imaginary smoke off of her fist.  Stefani turned down to look at the child, smiling.  

"Yo! Not too late am I?" 

- Livepink will return in 2022! -