Intake stayed low to the ground and eyed the red-haired man up and down. Jack Larison didn’t look that impressive, but when it came to superpowers, you could never judge a book by its cover.


    Jack was the first to speak, taking a lazy step toward the bad guy. “You should be ashamed of yourself for going after a child. It’s villains like you that I hate most in the world-” Jack was cut off mid-sentence when his vision was full of stone, as Intake’s fist appeared inches away from his face. With inhuman speed, Jack twisted his body, the punch soaring past him and shattering the ground. The entire street shook, and some cars were raised off the ground from the blow.


    With a roar, Jack swung up and smashed the sign into the head of Intake, hitting the bad guy as hard as he could and shattering the makeshift weapon in the process.


    The villain let out a curse, stumbling back as the metal was torn across their rocky flesh. It rubbed at the spot and glared down at Jack. With a sick grin, the beast swung its fist, connecting with Jack’s face. A punch strong enough to rip through stone caused the red-haired man to stumble back, his eyes filling with shock and pain, but then they quickly narrowed.


    Jack was still alive. His head somehow stayed attached to his neck. The man wrapped his arm around Intake’s limb and began to easily pull it back with mighty strength. Intake yelped as the villain began losing the battle of power. “You’re not just any random Super! Who the hell are you? Why are you pretending to be a normal human? Our kind can rule humans like Gods-”


    “Don’t look at me like that. It was this or flipping burgers,” Jack grunted. The creature roared in agony as Jack used his other arm and jabbed out with a strong right hook. The blow stabbed into Intake’s gut and cracked the stone hide with ease, sending black blood spilling out. Hissing in pain, the beast lashed out with his free hand, grabbing Jack by the head. Jack cursed, but it was too late.


    With a simple twist, Intake sent the Cleanup Crew member flying into the air as if he were as light as a feather. Jack yelled and tumbled down a few meters away, roughly crashing into the roof of a car, and before he could even get back on his feet, Intake appeared next to him and picked the entire car up, folding it in half with Jack still inside! Metal twisted around the man, who grunted as he felt himself begin to get crushed and encased in the makeshift tomb that was being created for him.


    Intake laughed and began to grow in size, the stone that made up his body being replaced with the red metal of the car. The villain was nearly sixteen feet tall now, so big that the ground was starting to crack beneath him, and he kept folding the car up more and more. Suddenly though, in a blinding flash of golden light, the car exploded, and Intake felt himself be flung back by a tremendous force.


    Jack dropped to the ground as the car that had been folded around him melted and burned to ash. The man’s body was filled with a powerful golden light, and lightning danced across their fingertips. “That’s enough.” He spoke in a cool tone and took a step forward. With a simple flick, four orbs of golden light appeared in the air around Jack, each firing a thin beam of energy that left small smoking holes in Intake’s body.


    The villain grunted, more black blood spilling down his chest, but he wasn’t ready to quit just yet. Intake slapped at the ground, hitting it as hard as he could and shattered more of the road, sending the debris flying Jack’s way.


    “Great.” Jack said in a dry tone. “Giving us more work to do.” The golden man wasn’t just strong but also fast, easily sidestepping all the rocks that crashed down around them. “Why don’t you just take your loss like a real man and give up? You’re starting to tick me off. Powers weren’t made to be equal, and I’m far above what you’ll ever be.”


    The truth was he had sent the kid away so he wouldn’t have to worry about holding back. This entire street was clear of people and had been blocked off, and due to the damaged state it was already in, he didn’t need to worry about collateral damage since they were already in the middle of fixing it. In other words, there was nothing stopping him from going all out and using everything he had to beat this monster.


    It had been years—nearly fifteen in fact—since he had a fight this good.


    Intake spat out more of their black blood as Jack’s lasers rammed away at him, tearing more of the monster''s body apart. “There it is again. That damn mocking look. Or is it pity? I don’t care either way! I’ll make you pay for staring at me like that!”


    Intake rammed Jack at full speed. Jack stopped his barrage of lasers and met the villain head-on. He wrapped his arms around the monster, his feet digging into the floor. His shoes exploded and ripped, his clothes tearing, as he and the beast had a struggle for power, each holding the other one and using their strength to try and push the opponent back.


    The street broke before either of them did. Stone rained down, and the road began to tear and rip open. Slowly though, Intake felt himself begin to get shoved back. Jack was beating the villain. Jack could feel it. The power. He began to push the creature back, the villain’s eyes wide with shock, and Jack’s glowing got even brighter as more golden lightning jutted out of his flesh. He grunted, taking a step forward, then a second step, and a third, as the glow got hotter and stronger.


    Jack Larison was winning.


    Jack began to yell, cracks appearing on the monster’s arms, and Intake felt his limbs start to shatter. “You’re through!” Jack announced. And then-


    Blood started to gush from Jack’s nose, and he suddenly gasped and, on instinct, let go of the creature going for his chest. In all that fighting, the man had forgotten the reason why he hadn’t used his powers in fifteen years.


    He was having a heart attack.


    Jack was smashed into the ground with the force of a truck as Intake didn’t hold anything back. This time, Jack yelled, the pain shooting through his body. It didn’t end there, though. With another sick grin, the villain brought his fist up and then smashed it down into the body of Jack. Again and again and again, blow after blow, it punched. That pain was nothing, though, compared to the hot blood that was gushing through his veins, his heart beating faster and wildly as if it were a bomb that was ready to go off.


    Jack could feel his body crack, his muscles giving out as his heart roared and struggled to keep going. Finally, the villain stopped their assault once he had buried Jack into a makeshift crater. Intake bent down and picked the man up, causing Jack to gasp. Intake’s hand was big enough now to wrap around Jack’s entire chest. It began to squeeze, and Jack’s vision began to blur. It was hard to breathe, and all the man could hear was a popping sound as his bones were about to explode!


    ‘You can also be a hero.’


    “D- Damn it.” Jack cursed as familiar thoughts and words went through his mind. They say that when you’re about to die, your life starts to flash before your eyes. Was this what they meant? His heart was still killing him, literally. It was wild and without rhythm. The consequences for using his power when he shouldn’t have.


    The pain in his body began to grow mind-numbing as Intake’s hand grew even tighter. Jack could feel it. His body was at its limit. He was about to die. His story was about to come to an end.


    That was when he saw something. His light in the darkness.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Before the creature could crush Jack to death, one of the metal spears the Cleanup Squad used to carry bricks stabbed itself into the back of the villain''s skull, making it roar and drop Jack. Hope gripped the spear tightly and pulled back with it as much might as she could, using the method Jack showed her earlier. She forced the villain off of the ground, and she twisted, letting go of the spear and hurling the rock man several meters down the road, where he crashed in a heap.


    Jack felt a set of arms raising him up as he stared up at her as she dragged him back. “Are you okay, Mr. Larison?” She asked in a panic. He did not look okay.


    “Why are you-” Jack broke into a coughing and wheezing fit, clutching his arm and shaking. His heart wasn’t slowing down. “Why are you here?” The man finally grunted.


    “I managed to find a pay phone! I called the cops and told them what was happening. They said they’d get a real strong hero to come save us.” She lifted him easily with her enhanced strength and began to move further down the road away from Intake.


    “That isn’t what I meant!” Jack slapped her upside the back of her head as hard as he could, nearly causing her to drop him. “You idiot, why did you come back?”


    Before she could answer, the villain was already standing back up, rubbing the back of its head, glaring at the two of them, and advancing slowly.


    “Why did I come back? That’s obvious.” She placed the man down and stepped forward, holding another of the metal spear-like tools up. She had several of them all tied to her back, clearly ready for a last stand. “You told me to save you, remember? This time it’s my turn to hold him off while you run.”


    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jack demanded. “You’re not a hero. You’re just a kid.”


    “It isn’t about being a hero or not.” She shook her head. “You asked me to save you, so that’s what I’m going to do. If everyone offered help when it was needed, then I think this world would be a better place. I can’t just go thinking things like that and then not offer to help. Especially when you went out of your way to save me.” She looked back at him and smiled. “Did that sound cool? I practiced it on the way over here!”


    Jack stared at her for a moment before finally letting out a snort. She really was just like... Jack stood up and wobbled his way in front of her. “It’s a cold day in hell that I force a child to save me.” His heart had finally settled down, but he knew it was just the calm before the storm. If he fought any longer, there was a good chance his heart would stop for real. And unlike the last ‘incident,’ he doubted Nick would be around to restart it. “Screw it. Who cares.” He smirked and clasped his hands together.


    “What?” She asked, but had to quickly shield her eyes as a bright golden light began to gush out of Jack’s enclosed hand.


    Jack ignored her, and he held his arm out. She watched as he balled his hand into a fist and then stuck his thumb and pointer finger out like it was a gun. Then he was glowing. It was faint, but it was there. Just under his skin, as if light were pumping through his veins, it was golden, the same color as the Victorian’s hair, and even his eyes seemed to go from a dull brown to the same sun-like orbs she had. Even seeing it a second time, it was still a sight to behold, as lightning began to zap from the tips of his finger.


    Jack felt the pounding quicken, his veins feeling like they were on fire. Intake roared and began to charge, and Jack gave a small grin, then finally spoke. “Bang.”


    The glow suddenly went out, compressed to a single point at the man’s fingertips. It wasn’t fire, and it wasn’t lightning. It was something else, like wild energy, the color of sunlight. It formed into a ball and blasted out, smashing into the gut of Intake and lifting the villain off the ground with enough force to send them smashing into the corpse of the dead dragon.


    The body of the dragon exploded into chunks as golden fire began to eat away at it, and the thing tumbled into the crater, dragging Intake down with it and kicking up a massive earthquake that undid all the repairs the Cleanup Crew did to the street. Jack didn’t really care in that moment, though. His heart’s wild beating was returning, but he crushed it down and fought through the pain.


    She stood off to the side, staring with wide eyes as her vision recovered from the light show. “Is it over?” She asked.


    “Not by a long shot.” Jack grinned. “My lasers got a lot weaker due to the state my heart is in. Something that weak would never put a guy like Intake down for long.”


    “That was your laser when it was weak!”


    Intake was already letting out a loud roar, ripping their way out of the dead beast and back up the crater. The metal armor where the light had hit him was melting off his body and smoldering, but the villain didn’t seem to care, too pissed to form many thoughts. Smoke came pouring out of Jack’s finger, but he didn’t seem bothered, easily blowing it out. The glow in his veins was back, and he felt his bones popping as he grinned.


    She took a calming breath and stood next to him, holding one of the rods up. It was a bit awkward in her grasp. She might have taken a few self-defense lessons with Armin when she was younger, but they had never gone over how to use weapons like this. “Are we actually going to fight him? Neither of us have a costume or anything.”


    “We’re gonna try.”


    She nodded. “What’s the plan then?”


    “While I fight him head on and blast him sky high, you deal with the other one.” Jack stated, causing small golden orbs to appear at the ends of each of his fingers.


    “Other one?” She asked. That was when her enhanced senses kicked back in and she heard it. A low buzzing noise. Actually, that wasn’t right. It was more like the sound you’d hear in an old house phone or pay phone. The sound when there was no call going on. She spun around and saw who was making the noise. At the end of the street, a familiar figure stood. One dressed in a long brown cloak with phones stitched all across it. Ears. A member of Bad Timers and one of the people who had been at the bank last week. “Oh. I see.” Was all she said.


    Ears held a palm up, pointing out of the opening in their cloak. She reacted just in time, dodging out of the way as a wave of yellow liquid blasted out of the man’s hand. It sort of looked like ear wax and greatly grossed her out.


    She was glad she dodged it too, as the spot it hit began to bubble up and melt. Some sort of acid attack or something. The liquid ate away at the ground, melting through solid stone like it was nothing. Jack didn’t bother dodging. Instead, a thin golden barrier formed around his flesh, easily blocking the acid.


    She landed on her feet a few meters away and jumped at Ears, stabbing out with her spear, but the attack never hit the cloaked villain. He didn’t move or anything like that. Instead, one second he was there, and then the other he wasn’t, as he vanished. Ears reappeared a few meters down the road, launching more of that acid at her and nearly catching her, but she used her inhuman jump to throw herself away just in time.


    She had forgotten that it was Ears that made the Bad Timers so hard to catch. The man was a supervillain that could teleport himself and his people away from danger. He also apparently could fire acid, as it turned out. That wasn’t the only one they had to worry about either.


    Intake charged at Jack with inhuman speed, every step shaking the ground. “I’ll kill you!” The villain roared. The metal man leaped high into the air like he had when he chased her the other night and brought his arms up. Jack raised his hand, the glow getting even brighter as he got ready to blast the villain.


    Then something caught all of them off guard.


    The lid to the sewer suddenly blasted up, and a wave of water rose out, moving on its own! The water bent and twisted, more and more pouring forth and taking shape into that of a giant fist, catching all four of them off guard. Intake tried to stop himself, but it was already too late.


    Intake fell into the hand made out of water. It was big—bigger than even a house—and its fingers wrapped around the metal monster. The villain tried to fight back, but slowly, the hand grew still, and the water began to shift, getting colder and colder as it froze over into an ice sculpture, leaving only Intake’s head free and the rest of his body stuck.


    She looked at Jack with wide eyes. “Can you control ice?”


    Jack stood there in silence for several seconds before sighing. The glow around him went out as he shook his head. “Someone just stole our moment of glory.”


    “Someone called for a hero!” The voice that announced the proclamation was almost as proud as the Victorian’s. A woman stood on top of one of the ruined buildings, her hands on her hips. Her hair flowed out behind her like the ocean, and water clung to her body, taking shape into various forms, from liquid to ice to mist. She recognized her instantly.


    “Ocean Empress,” Jack muttered, staring up at the woman. She was a member of the Enforcers and leader of her own hero team, the Reservoir. Basically, she was a big deal.


    “Oh my God, I need her autograph.” She was cut off when Ears blasted more acid at her, but a wall of ice appeared around her, keeping her safe. Ears looked up at the Enforcer then cut his losses. In an instant, the villain was gone as a black orb opened beneath him. One also appeared next to Intake but never had time to grab him as Ocean Empress acted quickly and froze it.


    “E- Ears!” Intake howled. Another orb appeared, but again, ice got to it first. They stopped appearing after that, and the metal villain screamed out in rage. “You bastard!” Ears had left Intake behind.


    She moved over to stand next to Mr. Larison and looked up at the woman with wide, shock-filled eyes. “She’s so cool-” She was cut off when Jack simply fell forward, his body finally giving out as he once again gripped his chest and began gasping. “Mr. Larison!”


    Those were the last words he heard as he blacked out.


    And that...


    That was the start of their origin story.