Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (41 page)

“Do
you have any ideas yet?” Wally asked.

Ian
shook his head and said he hadn’t given it any thought until then. “Jordan had
a few though.”

Coop
groaned, “Jordan? He’s an idiot.”

“What
were they?”

“One
was Zeus,” Ian stated, which both of his friends rejected out of hand. He told
them the other name was the Blue Streak, but it failed to garner better results
than the first.

“How
about Captain Thunder?” Coop suggested.

“Or
Raging Thunder?” Wally added.

Ian
stopped them before he asked, “What do you think about Voltage?”

Coop
and Wally grinned. “Now that’s something to think about.”

---*---

8:13
PM

Truva,
Turkey

As
their holiday drew to a close, Audrey and Jason retreated to a small town
outside of Troia called Tevfikiye. They spent their day visiting Troia, or what
was left of the great city of Troy. Both Audrey and Jason loved history and
Jason adored the Greek tragedies so neither felt they could pass up the detour.
Some of their other expeditions earlier in the week included a visit to the
Parthenon and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, as well as a few museums and art
galleries around Athens. Jason utilized every opportunity to speak Greek and
rattle off random facts and legends he knew about every place and everything they
saw throughout their trip. Normally his avid rants wore on her patience, but
she found herself relieved. For the first time since his accident she actually
saw her husband the way she remembered him. Neither one of them returned to the
subject of whether Jason possessed supernatural powers or if there were even
such things. Audrey knew it would only provoke another argument and she wanted
their vacation to remain peaceful. She saw how relieved he was and didn’t want
to ruin his happiness. Yet her curiosity remained intact and alive. Jason’s
survival, recovery, and the unnatural event earlier in the week captivated her.
She wanted an answer and a reason to define why he was healed and what caused
it. Audrey wanted to know how her husband lived and how he was fully healed
too. Jason wasn’t sure what it was and even though he wanted to disregard it
entirely, Audrey knew he still dwelt on it.

Jason
and Audrey lay on their queen sized bed in their hotel room.
The Edge of
Heaven
played on the television in the background though it only served as
background noise while they talked.

“It’s
too bad it’s almost over,” she sighed. “I really love it here.”

“We
could always stay,” he joked. “I’ve never given much thought toward the life of
a nomad, but I imagine we could enjoy it.”

Audrey
only stuck her tongue out at him and took his hand in hers. She laced her
fingers together and asked him what he wanted to do for breakfast before their
flight the next morning. Jason told her they could walk around town in the
morning and stumble upon someplace nice before they needed to leave.

Jason
kept his eyes on the ceiling for a moment before he thanked her. “I–we really
needed this didn’t we?” He looked at her with a smile, leaned toward her, and
kissed her. “Thank you for convincing me to come.”

Audrey
playfully told him he never had another option. “You would have missed me and I
know you would have felt left out if I went to the Parthenon and saw the great
city of Troy without you.”

He
chuckled and thanked her again.

Their
movie ended and the news came on. Normally Jason and Audrey watched the news
regularly, however after the news clip about Athens’ Burning Man the couple
decided to take a leave from the news. They listened unenthusiastically to the
headlines until one brought the pair to full attention. “Confirmation of other
super heroes in Nigeria, Laos, and Honduras follow quickly on the heels of a
dozen other announcements across the world today.”

Pictures
of some of the new heroes joined the anchorwoman onscreen. Audrey noticed how
poorly made their costumes were, though this went unnoticed by the broadcasters
and commentators. She imagined she would see those heroes with rose-colored
lenses too if her past few weeks hadn’t been filled with unnatural happenings.

The
report continued, “It’s unsure who these heroes are, though we have managed to
confirm a few known aliases of heroes previously revealed.” One image came to
the screen of a young man without a uniform or mask. His hair was cut short and
kept neat and he wore jeans, a v-neck tee-shirt, combat boots, and leather
gloves. “It was confirmed only an hour ago that the previously assumed Jericho
Law is the hero who has patrolled San Diego for months now. He’s acted as a
vigilante for years police say, though his super powers were unknown until
recently.”

The
video changed to a poorly shot video of Law combating four young men outside of
a bar. One of the attackers broke a glass bottle over Law’s head but the hero
hardly flinched and later another man tried to stab him but the blade couldn’t
pierce his skin. By the time the video finished Law was out of breath, but
relatively unharmed. His attackers were all unconscious at his feet.

“Jericho
Law’s abilities still remain uncertain, as his presumed invulnerability ranges
in effectiveness. This is seen clearly from the blood seen after the bottle was
broken over his head in the video just seen. The blunt force seemed to be
ignored but he was cut, which is where the dispute lies. The fact that he
couldn’t be stabbed also perplexes analysts. We’ll be sure to update you all as
this story unfolds.

“As
mentioned earlier, other heroes have appeared across the world today, though
only a few of these individuals have been clearly identified.” Images, both
crude and professional, appeared alongside a brief biography of some of the
newest heroes. The list ranged from one called Envoy from Sao Paulo to another
named Toxic Hammer in Geneva. “Some nations, such as Mexico and Sweden, plan to
require registration of heroes if they reside and operate within their borders,
both for security and employment. Other nations like Nicaragua have declared
any hero a legal law enforcer, with or without official identification or
government approval.

 “And
today in London,” the anchorwoman continued, “Two heroes identified themselves
at a press conference at the top of the steps of the Westminster Bridge in
front of the Houses of Parliament.” A recording of the press conference played
with commentary from the reporter overdubbed. “The man on the left was identified
as the Human Titan and his companion calls himself Captain Density. While
Captain Density has elected to remain anonymous, the Human Titan has revealed
himself as Trevor Wilde, a third year at the University of London.”

Both
super heroes’ costumes were home made from what seemed to be any sort of
clothes they had available. Captain Density wore matching knee-high boots, a
pair of dirty jeans, and a black tee-shirt with England’s flag and the word
‘Destiny’ written over it in red. And to top it all off he wore a bandana with
the nation’s flag over his head and large, dark sunglasses over his eyes. The
Human Titan however wore an extremely tight fitting blue athletic guard and
white tennis shoes. A large letter ‘T’ was spray-painted over his chest.

The
anchorwoman continued, “Recently the two teamed up to stop a bank robbery and
we have the security footage of their heroics.”

The
camera showed five men arrive though only four entered the bank. They wore
masks and held shotguns as they entered the bank and began their heist. One of
the men even threatened to blow off the head of a young girl if the teller
didn’t surrender all of the money from behind the counter. However, before the
clerk could answer, Captain Density dove through the wall and tackled the
gunman through a pane of glass. The tackled gunman fired the weapon in the air,
which alerted the other assailants, though upon seeing Captain Density they
fled and left their fellowman to deal with the vigilante. An outer security
camera showed the remaining men regroup in the car, but before they could
leave, their vehicle rose off the ground and over the Human Titan’s head.
Cheers were heard from the surrounding crowd as he threw the automobile into
the street before him, thieves still within.

The
woman returned, “Although the two stopped the heist, many have begun to
question their methods…In other news, evidence in the death of corporate
billionaire Tony Winchester–” Jason shut it off.

The
couple sat silently for a moment. Jason didn’t look at Audrey or the
television. He sat up and let out a breath while he rubbed his face. “I didn’t
think any of this was real Audrey. I mean, I really didn’t want to believe it
was true, least of all now and in our life.” Jason relented and told her he
hadn’t stopped thinking about what she said about the fire. “You mentioned you
thought I created it and although I denied it then, the thought had already
crossed my mind before you brought it up.” Jason fished a business card out of
his wallet and held it out in his hand. He closed his eyes and after a moment
the card caught fire and quickly burned away and left nothing but ash in his
hand. He cursed under his breath as he did his best to wipe it away and return
to their conversation. “I wanted to tell you sooner but I also wanted to be
sure I could control it.”

Audrey’s
eyes were wide and no word could escape her. Jason smiled and asked her to say
something after a moment. She cleared her throat and after a moment all of her
thoughts burst out at once, “Oh my word Jason, you’re a super hero! How—How on
earth did you do that? What does it feel like? This is amazing, Jason! What’s
it like? Does it hurt?”

Jason
stopped her and answered her one question at a time. “What you said, your
theory that I created the fire stuck with me all this time. I wasn’t sure why I
couldn’t get it out of my head but eventually I had to see if it was true. I
snuck out one night while you were asleep to try, but I didn’t have any luck.
It frustrated me at the start, but then I remembered something. You need three
things to create and sustain a fire. You need heat, oxygen, and fuel.” Jason
smiled, “I only provide the heat Audrey. That’s why the fire was so brief while
I was out earlier. My clothes burned away and once they were gone there wasn’t
anything left to burn. And for some reason I can’t be burned or be used as fuel
in the fire, so it simply stopped then. But I’ve practiced and grown to
understand how to manage when and where to release that energy, so don’t worry,
I’m not going to spontaneously combust anymore.”

Audrey
beamed and asked him how he figured out how to control everything. She asked
him how the whole process felt, whether he worried about the fire, if he needed
direct contact with the fuel source in order to form the fire, and she asked if
he could stop the fires as well. Audrey continued to rattle off questions and
Jason answered her as best he could for hours.

---*---

3:41
PM

Lynnwood,
Washington

Nick
sat at the edge of his bed and ran what Mizuno told their group through his head.
He tried to memorize everything, even though his part in their operation was
miles away and wouldn’t involve more than delaying a family of three. Mizuno
never specifically told him what he needed to do to impede his targets, but he
assumed that Mizuno would either tell him straightforward the exact steps
needed to be effective, or he would leave Nick to figure it out on his own, and
Nick assumed it would be the latter option.

His
home was quiet, as usual, with only the faint mumblings of whatever program
Paul watched in their living room. Nick hadn’t said two words to his stepfather
or to his local friends since he’d returned to the state. Drake tried to call
him once but Nick ignored it. He didn’t know what to say and he didn’t want to
lie, but Drake and the others would only try to sway him if they knew he was
wrapped up in a group, an organization, such as Impact. Nick wasn’t certain he
fully comprehended what it was or what it could be, yet he knew Mizuno was the
only person who could help him achieve his goals. Beyond that, Nick had no
intention of remaining a member.

Amy
called and asked to see him and they planned a date that afternoon, which Nick
felt apprehensive about. He felt nauseated thinking about what they would talk
about, the inevitable questions she would challenge him with, and how he could
and would lie to her without completely unraveling everything Mizuno taught him
and expected of him. Nick was torn.

A
rustling came from the kitchen and Nick assumed his stepfather hunted for
lunch. Nick hadn’t eaten at all and suddenly realized it as his stomach
churned. He wearily brought himself to stand and left to join Paul. The old man
hardly noticed him enter and didn’t say a word at first. Nick opened their
fridge and saw how bare it was, aside from the alcohol. Nick shut the door and
walked to a cupboard to retrieve an unopened sleeve of white square crackers
and a jar of creamy peanut butter. After he selected a knife from the
silverware drawer, Nick tried to slip out without a word to Paul, though he
stopped Nick.

“Where
the hell were you for a week?” he asked.

Nick
didn’t make eye contact. “I-I was out w-working.”