This is an original story. The ideas are mine. I thunked up the entire thing. Ignore the strange word in the previous sentence.
Anywho, this is a story about a guy who lives in the not-too-distant-future, let's say 2016. He's pretty much an average guy, 21 years old, married, no kids. Oh, and he's a superhero. He's got wings (kinda angelic, kinda bird-like) on his back, and can control 12 elements. He also has some control over Time, but it's limited (e.g. - it only happens sometimes, and when it does, he may or may not be in full control of it). Something happens, and it changes the past, but he's the only one who knows that the events that "happened" 5 years ago, weren't supposed to happen. Or is he the only one? Do I sound like a commercial? Good. Here it is, chapter one. BTW, I'm just going to copy+paste it straight from Word, up until the second break in the chapter. Then I'm going to type it straight from my free-hand copy. There is some violence, but I generally try to avoid rough language or..... "saucy" materials. And if you notice any errors (grammar, spelling, etc.), please tell me and I will fix them.
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Chapter One: New News
“Earlier today, at a –” the voice was cut off by a muffled click. The young man sitting about ten feet away cursed under his breath.
“Best cable service my –” he started. He was cut off by a feminine voice from another room.
“Lucas, did the TV go out again?” she asked. Lucas (the man in the chair) sighed and stood up.
“Yes,” he replied exhaustedly. “Is the paper in yet?” The female voice returned the sigh.
“Yeah,” she replied. “It should be on the table.” Lucas walked from the living room into the kitchen and grabbed a chair and the newspaper. He read the top headline aloud.
“’Local car dealership agrees to repay cheated customers.’ If this is the best news they’ve got,” he said, “I might as well not even read the paper.” He suddenly grimaced in pain. “Oh…. Wicked headache…. Jenna, do we have any Advil?” he asked.
“There should be some in the cabinet,” Jenna replied. She came in from the other room, dressed in a dark blue, tight-fitting dress. She waited until Lucas had taken a couple Advil, then asked, “How’s this?” Lucas looked up from his orange juice.
“Beautiful,” he replied after a moment. Jenna turned and looked in a full-length mirror on the door.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “I kinda like the red one.” She walked back into the room and closed the door. Lucas shrugged and sat back down to read the paper. He took a sip of his morning orange juice and read the headline again. His eyes widened and he dropped the glass to the floor. It shattered and a piece of glass sliced into the side of his leg. He barely noticed the pain. His attention was focused on the top headline of the paper, which had changed since just two minutes ago.
He mouthed the words as he read:
“County mourns 5th anniversary of church bombing.” He was almost too dumbfounded to continue. Almost.
“On this date, 5 years ago, a lone man walked silently into a local church and detonated a bomb strapped to his waist. Luckily, almost everyone was already out of the building. Only one person was killed in the blast. She was sixteen-year-old Jenna Eckers.” At this point, Lucas dropped the paper and stood, adrenaline overriding the pain in his leg. His chair tumbled backwards.
“Jenna?!” he yelled, racing through the house, searching every room. “Jenna?!” His voice had a new level of anxiety and panic. He ran to the room where his wife of two years had been changing only moments ago. No one. The room was empty.
Suddenly, memories came flooding back to him, memories that conflicted with his others and that he was sure were false. Then, as if by instinct, he turned and threw open the doors to his wife’s closet. He let out a gasp. Where once Jenna’s clothes and purses were, now Lucas’ belonging took their place.
“Jenna?!” he yelled again. He pushed aside two jackets and found a small shoebox. Instantly, he knew what was inside – newspaper clippings, photographs, recordings, anything about the bombing. He fell to his knees.
“Jenna?” he muttered. He started feeling dizzy and weak. He had lost a lot of blood. “Jenna?” He collapsed and blacked out.
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“Hey! Hey! Wake up!” a voice called out. Lucas’ eyes fluttered open. He glanced around. He appeared to be in a hospital room, surrounded by a throng of family and a nurse. For a fleeting moment, he saw Jenna standing beside his mother and father. Then she was gone and it all came rushing back to him. He bolted straight upright.
“Where’s Jenna?” he asked. His parents exchanged confused and worried glances. Then he looked more closely at the group surrounding him. His eyes widened. “And where’s Jake?”
Lucas’ mother looked frightened. She glanced at the nurse, who hurriedly ushered everyone except the parents out of the room. Then Lucas’ mother walked slowly toward the bedside.
“Lucas,” she whispered, “they’ve both been dead for five years.” She gave him a worried look. He gave her a bewildered stare. Then his father came around beside him.
“Lucas, don’t you remember?” he asked. “Jenna was killed in the bombing and Jake was killed fighting Trigger in-suit. You were there, you should remember it.” Lucas’ face betrayed his confusion. His mother teared up.
“We were afraid of this,” she said quietly. Then she gave him a full explanation.
“You blacked out from a combination of blood loss and total memory recall. The surgeon said that, in some cases of recall, the patient will suffer from temporary amnesia. He also said that ninety eight percent of those who suffer this secondary effect regain their memory after a friend, or family member, gives them a jump-start by filling in some details.” Lucas nodded, still mildly confused. His mother continued.
“To start,” she said, “you have wings.” Lucas’ jaw dropped and he mouthed the word “What?” but no sound came out. He reached his arms behind his back. He could feel them there, feathery wings, like those of a bird or an angel.
“You were also given control over twelve basic elements: Water, Fire, Lightning, Grass, Rock, Wind, Steel, Rifle, Ice, Sound, Light, and Dark,” his mother went on. “You also had some power over Time, but you couldn’t, and still can’t, control it completely. You were instructed to give each of the twelve elements to someone you knew, someone worthy of that kind of power. After giving eleven of them away, you would find out which one was yours. You gave Jenna Water, Jake Lightning, Glenn Steel, and Jaret Rock.
“The five of you agreed to use these powers to be like superheroes. You had Glenn make communicator watches for each of you. Then everyone chose aliases so that you guys could be you, but still be superheroes. You were Phoenix, mainly because of the wings. Jenna was Hydra, because she had Water. Jake was Sparky. Glenn was Ironside. And Jaret was Rocky. You all had little costumes that you wore. Mostly, it was just a plain white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. You used bandanas to cover your mouths and wore sunglasses and hats. That’s what we call ‘in-suit’ today. For a while, you all had fun.” Lucas raised an eyebrow.
“For a while?” he asked. His mother stopped and started sobbing. His father picked up where she left off.
“Jaret was… easily persuaded. I won’t give all the details, but he betrayed you and your friends and was later killed by the people he betrayed you for. That’s when we found out that when someone with an element is killed, the killer automatically absorbs that element. Then the whole hero thing stopped being all fun and games. Then –” Lucas cut him off.
“I remember now,” he said. “Trigger was the nameless guy that stuck a gun to my head and demanded the rifle element. I gave it to him and he became one of our worst enemies of all time.” Lucas’ father nodded. “Wait. But if Trigger killed Jake… Wouldn’t he have the Lightning element?” His father shook his head.
“You don’t remember everything,” he said. “After he killed Jake, Trigger tried to absorb the Lightning, but it shocked him and he ran. The Lightning reabsorbed itself into you.”
“What about Jenna?” Lucas asked. His mother started sobbing again and had to leave the room. His father sighed.
“She was killed in the bombing. But the same thing happened. The Water came back to you.” Lucas shook his head.
“But that never happened,” he replied. “I’ve been married to Jenna for two years and me and Jake stopped Rocker just the other day. I remember it.” The he paused. “Rocker is the guy that killed Jaret and absorbed the Rock element, right?” His father nodded, then shook his head.
“It’s the amnesia talking. Jenna and Jake have both been dead for five years. But yes, Rocker is the guy you’re thinking of.” Lucas started to say something, but the phone rang. His father picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” he said. “Yes…. No this is his father…. Of course.” He out his palm over the microphone end and turned to Lucas. “It’s for you.”
Lucas struggles to his feet and winced in pain. There was a bandage over his leg where the piece of glass had sliced into him. He hobbled a few steps to where his father stood with the telephone. His father handed him the receiver and walked outside to comfort Lucas’ mother.
“Hello?” Lucas spoke into the microphone. A familiar voice on the other end responded.
“Hey.” The voice was male, and Lucas instantly recognized it.
“Glenn? How did you know I was here?”
“I installed a program in all of the watches that monitors vitals twenty four-seven. It beeped to alert me after you passed out, so I called your parents.” Lucas nodded as if Glenn could see him. Then he asked a question that was burning inside him.
“Glenn, did you notice anything weird in the paper this morning?” There was a pause on the other end.
“I thought I was the only one who noticed it!” Glenn said. “That’s why I called. That bombing never happened. I tried to reach Jake, when I suddenly remembered – if it can be called that – that he died.”
“Yeah,” Lucas said. “My parents filled me in on what I’m supposed to remember.”
“Good. That’ll save us some time.” Lucas wrinkled his brow in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t talk for long on the phone. Do you remember where my quote-unquote ‘lab’ is?” Lucas thought for a moment.
“Yeah, I think so,” he replied.
“Get here ASAP.”
“Alright. See you in a bit,” Lucas said. He hung up the phone and looked around the room.
He spotted a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans in a small plastic bag next to the chair. He limped over to them and examined the t-shirt. It had rips in each side, just below and behind the sleeves. He changed into the clothes after shedding the hospital gown, and then walked over to the mirror.
His dark black hair was slightly ruffled, but it always was. He had let it grow out to about medium-length for a twenty one-year-old man. In stark contrast to his jet black hair, his light blue eyes stared into the eyes of his reflection. Then he let his wings stretch out through the holes in his shirt.
“Alright,” he muttered. He put on the shades, bandana, and generic baseball cap that were piled in the bag as well. Then his father walked in.
“Lucas,” he said, surprise betrayed in his voice. He glanced at Lucas’ leg. “You’re in no shape to go anywhere.” He walked to the mirror to stand next to his son. If Lucas’ father had less gray hair, less wrinkles, and blue eyes, the two could be mistaken for twins.
“It’s my leg, dad,” Lucas replied. “I’m in no position to walk anywhere. I can still fly.” With that, he ambled toward the window and pulled it open. The cool Chicago breeze blew across him. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Just don’t do anything stupid.” He laughed and grabbed the two sides of the window pane. With all of his strength, he launched himself through the opening. He let himself fall a few stories, and then stretched out his wings. The air resistance from the wings being opened caused him to be something like a hang-glider. Then he flapped his wings a few times to gain altitude and headed toward Glenn’s “lab”.
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Lucas had a little bit of trouble remembering how to fly. He had even more trouble remembering how to land. When he finally reached Glenn's "lab", the landing caused him to sprain his ankle - on the same leg that was cut. He gritted his teeth and limped to where Glenn was sitting.
The "lab" wasn't much. On the outside, it looked like an old house that had been abandoned for decades. The paint, where any was left, was faded and peeling; the wood was starting to rot. The porch had been newly refurbished (with some money Glenn had saved from his part-time job), but it was incredibly small.
Glenn was sitting on the top step when Lucas made his arrival, and walked toward him to help him out.
"You know about your limited control over Time, right?" he asked as he let Lucas use him as a crutch. Lucas just nodded. Glenn continued.
"Good, good." He helped his injured friend up the steps and through the door.
The inside of the "lab" very much resembled the outside, except that the floors and tables were cluttered with mechanical and other trinkets; some finished, some not. Among them, in glass cases, were what appeared to be updated versions of their comm-watches. Following Lucas' gaze, Glenn explained.
"Those are just prototypes. I've been working on them for a while, but I can't seem to get them quite right."
"Are they any different?" Lucas asked. Glenn laughed.
"They're supposed to be, but like I said, I can't get them quite right." They continued through the clutter and reached the stairs. Lucas groaned.
"You've gotta be kidding me," he mumbled.
"Sorry," Glenn replied. "No joke."
The two climbed up the stairs awkwardly, reaching the top without too much pain. The turned a corner and went into a room with a little less debris in it. It was Glenn's study room.
He had a quick-processing computer with ridiculously fast internet. There was a couch, which Lucas fell into, and a refrigerator. The refrigerator was mostly filled with sodas.
"So what now?" Lucas asked. He had pulled the bandana and taken off the shades and hat. Glenn pulled a rolling swivel chair up to the computer and opened a web-page. He scrolled up and down, scanning the dates and headlines. Then he turned the monitor so Lucas could see it.
"We dig up some dirt," he said.
"What website is that?" Lucas asked.
"The newspaper's. They have a list of top headlines form their paper going back nearly ten years."
"So.... What?"
"So we just go back through the headlines and read the articles until we find something weird. We need to find the date of when all these weird memories started." Lucas nodded. He looked at his green-eyed, blonde-haired friend and tried to figure out how he had gotten so smart.
"Let's get started," Lucas said. Glenn nodded and went to the headline with the earliest date.
"I just hope this works," he said. He read the headline and article aloud. Nothing interesting. Nothing out of the ordinary. Glenn clicked the "Next Article" link.
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Glenn read through almost five years of articles, one for every day of every year. (For those of you who are wondering, that's one-thousand eighty six articles. Four of the years were regular years and one was a leap year.) Finally, something triggered a false memory in their minds. Glenn reread the headline.
"'Small crater found near Chicago; Authorities baffled.' Hmm... I remember that," he said, "but I don't think I should." Lucas agreed.
"What was the date on that?" he asked. Glenn scrolled up a little bit.
"July eighth, 2011." Lucas sat up.
"That's three days before the bombing!" he exclaimed. Glenn thought for a moment, then realized his friend was right.
"That can't be coincidence," he said, getting up from the chair. He helped Lucas up and walked him down the hall to another room. This room had no windows and it was almost midnight. Glenn flipped a light switch near the door. Lucas gasped.
"No clutter?!" he stammered. Glenn gave him a sarcastic laugh.
"I've allegedly been working on this for - get this - five years," he said. Lucas shook his head.
"Man, this is weird," he said. There were three noticeable things in the room: a dome-like pod; a glass case with a watch in it; and a panel with buttons, switches, and knobs on it. The panel was connected to the pod via a large cord. Glenn walked to the panel.
"It's a
working time machine," he said. Lucas' jaw dropped. "Or, at least, it will be."
"So it's not done yet?" Lucas asked.
"Oh, no no no! Of course it's done! I was just missing two components. Until today." Lucas watched him turn some knobs.
"What components?" he asked. Glenn smiled.
"A destination date." Lucas' eyes widened with realization.
"July eighth!" he said excitedly.
"2011. But it's also missing one more thing," Glenn continued. He looked at Lucas. "Something - or someone - that can manipulate Time."
"What?"
"This machine was built to amplify your Time powers and give you temporary control over them," Glenn explained. Lucas nodded.
"Then let's go," he said. Glenn grabbed his shoulder.
"It's only big enough for one person," he said slowly. Lucas whipped around.
"What?" he asked.
"I was only able to design it so that one person would fit inside."
"And you want me to go? Alone?" Lucas asked. Glenn shook his head.
"Not exactly alone," he replied. He walked to the glass case and removed the cover. Lucas furrowed his brow in confusion.
"A comm-watch?" he asked. Glenn took the watch out and placed it on Lucas' wrist, opposite his current comm-watch.
"Once again, not exactly. This comm-watch was designed to be completely immune to your Time powers. It has a direct link to this panel." Lucas fiddled with the wristband of the watch, adjusting it to fit correctly.
"So, even though I'll be five years in the past and you'll be here and now, we can still communicate?" he asked. Glenn nodded. "Alright. Let's do it." Lucas limped over to the dome, while Glenn went to the operating panel.
"Ready?" Glenn asked. Lucas nodded and Glenn flipped a switch that opened the pod.
"What do I do now?" Lucas asked after stepping into the pod.
"Do you see the hand prints and foot prints on the sides and bottom?" Lucas looked left, right, and down, then nodded. "Match them up with your hands and feet and concentrate on the destination date." Lucas gave a thumbs up and put his palms on the sides and his feet on the foot prints.
Glenn flipped the switch again and the dome closed. He pulled down two levers to his right and pushed a button on his left. A digital readout of a countdown flashed onto the inside of the dome. Ten seconds. Glenn's voice crackled over the new comm-watch.
"Good luck. Don't do anything stupid." Lucas laughed and the countdown hit zero. Glenn pushed another button. Lucas felt as though the life was being drained out of him. He kept concentrating on the date, but it was painful. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
Then he was gone. The dome was empty. Glenn ran to the glass covering and peered inside. It looked like it worked. Glenn jumped in the air in joy. He ran back to the panel and hit the intercom button connecting it with Lucas' new comm-watch.
"Lucas! It worked!" he said. No response. "Lucas, I said it worked!" Still nothing. "Lucas? Lucas can you hear me?!"
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And that was chapter one. Hope you enjoyed it. Please provide feedback. And, if you will, give me rating on a scale of 1-10. Thanks.