Prepare

"Why a superhero?" Asks Darwin as he observes Isaac walking down the street with a skip in his steps. Isaac never thought he'd celebrate the day when he could hop without causing small earthquakes.

It didn't help his public image either. He was already known as a mischievous lunatic due to countless people seeing him talking to himself.

"Well, firstly, this way I can get stronger without having to find new ways to kill myself. Secondly, I'm a Fury. What did you expect?" He says.

"Speaking of heritage, you're nothing like your father. When I first inhabited your body three years ago, I was expecting to observe a grumpy stuck-up teenager." Says Darwin, voicing the thoughts he's been having for a while.

"I get that a lot. Especially from Ms Romanoff. Also, did you just say you've been observing my life for three years?" Asks Isaac, slowing down, his heartbeat quickening.

"Yes, ever since I supposedly died."

"Hehe, you wouldn't happen to know about…" Isaac's words trail off as he lets out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yes…I do. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. It's not like I can tell anyone anyway." Says Darwin as Isaac lets out a breath of relief. He forgot he was the only person who could speak to Darwin.

"Good, because despite me being proud of it, others wouldn't get it." He says, continuing to walk.

"Where are you going?" Asks Darwin, noticing Isaac was travelling away from his home.

"Well if I'm going to be a superhero I need a costume, don't I?" Says Isaac, prompting Darwin to become excited.

"That's interesting. Where are you going? The black market? A Military veteran who now sells military-grade weapons and armour? Perhaps a shield agent that provides you with equipment?" Isaac squinted his eyes and resisted the urge to slap himself on his forehead.

"Um… no. What exactly do I look like to you? I'm going to the costume shop." He says, standing before a shop with the name "Cosmic Costumes" in colourful writing above it.

"Oh, so boring as usual. Tell me when you're done." Says Darwin, speaking as if he had any other choice but to watch Isaac.

Isaac walked into the store and found it to be crowded and messy with countless costumes of elves, chubaca, sexy cat and what he assumed to be a poorly made Iron Man suit. He passed the junk and made it to the counter where a young female with black hair in pigtails and heavy eye shadow leaned on a table reading a magazine.

Isaac walked to the counter as she completely ignored him, seemingly waiting for him to speak.

Before Isaac could ask her for anything, he heard Darwin in his head.

"Hey, if you're able to get her phone number I'll only speak when spoken to for a whole week." Isaac paused in his steps, hearing the man's chipper voice. A week without Darwin's narcissistic comments?

"You're on!" He whispers. Despite him keeping his voice down, the female was still able to hear his voice. As evidenced by the fact that she darted her eyes towards him, wearing a face of displeasure.

"Do you want something?" She says in a flat tone, encouraging Isaac to speak.

"Greetings female, I've come to acquire an attire for my extracurricular activities. A mask to be more specific." Silence enveloped the store as even the chatty Darwin couldn't help but be lost for words.

"You can't be serious."

The female looked at him with the same expression on her face, as if she wasn't surprised.

"The masks are over there." She points as she looks back at her magazine. Isaac's smiling face stares at her and soon nods as he walks away, overextending his straitened arms and coordinating them with his feet, almost like a robot.

"Weirdo." The female whispers, making Darwin burst out into laughter.

"Can you seriously not talk to women?!" Asks Darwin in between laughter, causing Isaac to wear a sour face and sigh.

"I can, she was just…scary." He says, trying to heal his broken self-esteem by fiddling with a few objects in the middle of the store.

"She didn't even seem surprised, like encountering weirdos was a daily thing for her. I guess the people who visit costume shops in the middle of summer aren't normal in the first place. Is this how you expect to make Black Widow your future wife?" He says, causing Isaac to burst out.

"You keep Ms Romanoff out of this! I am destined to be with her!" He yells, once again drawing the attention of the female at the counter. He waves to play it off as she rolls her eyes at him.

Isaac stands before countless masks as he darts his eyes between them. The store had everything, from hockey masks to Frankenstein and even masquerade masks. However, Isaac had his eyes on a specific kind.

"A phantom mask? Good choice." Says Darwin in a tone of approval as Isaac tries it on.

The mask covered Isaac's whole face, leaving only his eyes exposed. The mask was black and had a basic design, slightly boring, however, Isaac thought it was just right. After all, he was a superhero, not a circus clown.

He picks up two and walks to the counter, paying the money and leaving as quickly as possible with the small bit of self-respect he had left.

"You have money?" Asks Darwin after seeing Isaac put away his debit card.

"Yeah, I've been getting an allowance from my father since I was a child." He says. The amount of money he had was never too much or too little. Just enough for him to afford basic necessities and even some treats for himself every now and then. Because of this, his understanding of money was still that of a normal person and not a spoilt rich kid.

As Isaac walked through the street, a nearby large-screen caught his attention.

"Today, the leader of the Rising Vanguard, Patriot, also known as Eli Bradley, single-handedly prevented a bank heist…" A news anchor presents a tall dark-skinned male with a ponytail who looks to be around the same age as Isaac. He wore a blue suit with a white star branded on its chest as well as red stripes around it. The most prominent detail was the shield he carried anyone could tell was similar to Captain America's shield.

He also fashioned a golden Phoenix with its wings spread apart in the middle of his shield, a symbol signifying the Rising Vanguard.

"Patriot. Handsome kid, isn't he?" Says Darwin.

"He's supposed to be the leader that was appointed to the team created after the incident with you. Because of you, I have to see these joker's faces everywhere I go." Said Isaac, watching the TV screen and seeing Patriot sign autographs for female fans.

"Why do you hate them so much? Maybe this is the government's way of assuring people of their safety." Says Darwin, to which Isaac feels annoyed.

"I don't hate them, I just think they don't deserve all the recognition they're getting. There are real people who help the world way more than they do. People like my father." Says Isaac, prompting Darwin to stay silent for a few seconds.

"Everyone important in the world knows your father is an irreplaceable asset to the human race. He's proved himself many times. These kids are heroes for the public to look up to. For the people who don't matter. People like you." Says Darwin with a chuckle as Isaac smiles slightly.

"Yeah well, at least I'm not dead." Says Isaac, laughing.

"Woah, too far. I was wrongfully accused and sentenced to death. Show some compassion." Yells Darwin, to which Isaac rolls his eyes.

Isaac walked back home and into his room as he looked at his two masks. He found both masks fit into each other perfectly, allowing him to make some adjustments.

"What if you become famous and the girl remembers she sold the mask to you?" Asks Darwin, expecting Isaac to have a solution. However, the boy continued what he was doing as he spoke.

"I'm not too worried. She doesn't seem like much of a talker. I'll be surprised if she remembers me after today. If she does somehow recognize me, I'll just fly her over an active volcano and let her go. That'll keep my identity secret as well as restore my self-esteem." He says, searching his drawer and finding what seemed to be a ski mask with black lenses where the eyes were.

"You know you can't do that right?" Asks Darwin after noticing the serious manner in which Isaac spoke. His worries weren't put to rest as Isaac didn't give him an answer straight away.

"What do you care? You're the worst villain in all of history." He says while plucking out the black lenses from the ski mask and placing them in between the two masks.

Despite the two masks now having a gap between them, it wasn't too noticeable and did the job of protecting Isaac's eyes while flying at high speeds. He grabbed some glue and attached the components, successfully making his mask.

"Great, now you have your mask, what are you gonna wear on your body? Lemme guess, are you going to go to Walmart next?" Says Darwin while laughing.

Isaac stands up, walks to his closet and opens it. The closet was full of Isaac's clothes, however, that isn't what he was looking for. He yanked all his clothes from the closet till there was nothing left. He then pressed his fingers on the back of the closet in what Darwin recognized to be a pattern.

In the next second, one could hear wiring as the back of the closet started to rotate, revealing an arsenal of armour and weapons, including stun guns, knives, batons and even a katana, all lit by blue LED lights.

"Well, I am the son of Nick Fury. He made sure I was prepared if there was ever a home invasion." He says with a wide grin. Meanwhile, Darwin was speechless as he searched for the words to say.

"You need a katana for the off chance there's a poor robber who visits?" Asks Darwin.

"To be honest, I might have helped myself to the small arsenal my father sometimes carries. The rest he gave to me." He says, grabbing some black boots.

"Reinforced Shield Boots. They used to use these in the early 90s but they upgraded so it's practically junk to them now." Says Isaac as he grabs a pair of forearm guards attacker to gloves.

"These were a discontinued project to try and replicate some villain's suit. I'm not really sure, who cares to be honest." He finally reaches for holsters and a few knives he'd be using.

The sets looked similar to each other. They were all black with silver trimmings, as well as similar materials.

"Ok, I'll admit. That's pretty cool." Admits Darwin. What man didn't enjoy a secret arsenal?

"You ain't seen nothing yet." Says Isaac as he jumps and quickly grabs a device from the top of his closet. He blows the dust off and reveals it to be a black laptop. He places it on his table and powers it on with a grin.

"A laptop?" Asks Darwin, to which Isaac smiles.

"Not just any laptop. It's been a while since I used this. It's a laptop that belonged to my father. I swiped it as he was leaving home after staying for a night. This laptop has the Shield database on it." He says, to which Darwin starts to feel excited.

"I can observe local police departments and recent crimes, all the way up to crap that's happening in the FBI," He says as the laptop finally turns on. Isaac touches a few buttons and the screen changes to a local police officer a few blocks away, apprehending a drug dealer.

"This crap is like reality TV. I spent nights watching it back in the day."

"Isaac, you might just be one of the coolest rookie heroes out there," Darwin says, to which Isaac lets out an evil laugh.

***

Isaac could be seen in his messy room, drooling and snoring as he rested his head on his desk, his laptop still showing multiple body cams from nearby officers.

Unbeknownst to him, something was happening.

[Congratulations!]

[You have gained the S-rank Evolution "Minds Resonance"]