Tyler was jolted awake from his nap by a tune. It was his phone! He sprang out of bed because he knew exactly who was calling. His parents. He scrambled for his phone, and in his panic, he nearly shocked it! Thankfully, he regained control and gently (and gingerly) tapped the screen to answer the call groggily.
“Mom? You and Dad done with the meeting?”
His mom chuckled. “Yeah, we’re done. Are you doing okay? You sound half-asleep.” Tyler’s mom, Paula, was the borderline definition of motherly, a deer-like woman who was firm but motherly and had faith in her kids, especially Tyler, though she never picked favorites.
Tyler nervously chuckled,
“I… I’m fine… Just hungry, you know how it is…” He felt nervous, internally panicking at the thought of them coming home, hoping that the burnt smell wouldn’t permeate his room for too long. His mom chuckled in response, knowing full well how teenage guys eat nearly everything.
“Well, you’re in luck… There’s a Five Guys in White Oak, and we’re nearby. And you’re not alone; neither of us has eaten all day. And you know your dad.” Paula chuckled.
“Believe me. Being in a car with him is nothing until he’s hungry.”
Tyler then overheard his father in the background.
“Hey, you try giving a speech on an empty stomach!” Though there was no bite in the words. Lucas was an officer of the law, but he was a reasonable one. Despite his heavy focus on order, he was nicer than most expected for an officer. And he was a big-time Batman fan. And as fathers go, he was an excellent role model.
Tyler grinned, muttering, “You and me both, Dad.” He stretched and went to his sister’s room, asking what she wanted, and after a few minutes of back-and-forth, all four had agreed on what they wanted. Then Tyler’s mom hung up. He half-smiled, thinking about the food. Greasy as it was, it was good food to him.
Unlike most people his age, Tyler loved his parents. Maybe it was because he didn’t have many close friendships, but he felt pretty close to his parents. And due to his intellectual independence and maturity, he related to many adult men more than teenage boys. It was one of the oddities about him.
Tyler suddenly felt bored, but instead of sleeping, he went over to his Xbox, turned it on, and pulled out the Minecraft case. He sighed, loading up a new world for him to build something on. His stomach grumbled; he felt like just getting a snack, but he thought, “I can wait 15 minutes, it’s no big deal.”
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45 minutes later, the teen felt downright jittery. His stomach was practically begging; he growled. He hated his appetites; they always distracted him. He huffed.
“Darn it. It’s been…” He checked the clock above his bed. “Oh man… Wow, I knew I-40 traffic was bad… But jeez, Louis!”
He tried calling them. Once, twice, three times. Nothing. He growled in a panic,
“Dude, why aren’t they picking up? It’s been an hour since they called. They-” His phone rang. He sighed in relief; he’d finally have some answers. He fiddled with the phone and answered. “Tyler? Grab your sister! His heart beat fast. “Mom?!” Tyler’s brain went into panic mode.
His heart sank into his chest, his breath turned to gasps. He nearly screamed,
“Where are you? What’s going on?” He was on the verge of breaking down. He could only discern two more sentences before the line disconnected.
“Call Grammy. Get your sister.”
His phone finished with a despondent, “Call ended.”
The sound made his heart go ballistic. His mind swirled in a melting pot. He muttered a panicked,
“No, no, dang it, no!” As his fingers fumbled to call 911. But as he was about to press the call button, he glanced at his dresser, thinking of the costume.
He growled. “No. I just said I… He glanced at his phone, seeing the wallpaper of him and his parents at Carowinds. The thought of them in danger caused Tyler to rush and grab his dresser, nearly throwing it through the wall to his right. He threw his costume on over his clothes. He hesitated once more. His mind wandered back to the store clerk—that woman.
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He arrived at the back of the building. He looked around and nearly made eye contact with a man in an ECU hoodie. He ducked behind a green dumpster and hyperventilated. Thankfully, due to the city’s noise, no sound was heard. He shuddered and peeked ever so slightly over the bin and saw the man loading a shotgun! He growled, assuming the worst. “Oh, those jerks are not doing what I-”
He cut himself off as he saw the man make his way towards the back door. He rushed in, and before the assailant could react, “Zap!”
Tyler knocked him out with a shock and hastily crept through the door. A feeling of dread washed over him.
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Tyler’s steps stayed quiet, but the voices he heard grew louder. Someone was barking orders, while other rattling sounds came from the adjacent room. As he hugged the walls and moved hastily, he heard someone cock a gun near him. He whipped his head to the side but saw nothing, then he peeked around a nearby corner, and saw a man in black and grey sportswear examining a Mac-10.
“Dang it. Why here? There’s no way I can take him down silently.” His heart beat faster, but despite the panic clouding his judgement, he thought of an idea. He charged up the electricity in his hands and hit an outlet. There was a “Pop!” and the armed guard immediately walked over, muttering.
“I swear, if one of you dumb****s is messing with the power. Donald told you not to mess with the power yet. We need the money first-”
Tyler suddenly grabbed the man’s neck and shocked him, thankfully, before he let any shots off. Tyler dropped the assailant on the ground, close to hyperventilating; he never pulled that off in any place other than with his Martial Arts classmates.
“Holy crud.” He muttered breathily.
He continued creeping along, noticing a door that, presumably, led to the kitchen. It was then that he overheard the voices,
“Lee, I told you to grab stuff of value, not what BS that is!”
“Shut up, Dawson! This is valuable.” There was then a full string of curses (most likely from Dawson) about why they couldn’t steal a whole stove.
Dawson whined, “Mark said we-”
It was then that a voice rang out, in a menacing tone.
“Ya both need to shut it. We gots to get the ever-lovin' freak out of here.” Tyler peeked through the window slightly and saw them.
Four masked men, one guarding the door, the other three arguing in the kitchen, each with their own ski masks. The door guard wore blue, while the men arguing all wore yellow ski masks. They were all armed with pistols. Tyler crouched down to stay out of sight, then peeked again, and then his panic rose to even higher levels. He saw the people inside, being held at gunpoint, then he looked again and saw two more guards he hadn’t noticed before, likewise armed, but they carried shotguns instead of pistols.
Tyler then saw them. His parents. Both were in gun range. He almost gasped, and a feeling of dread flooded his body once more, with an even greater force. He stumbled backward; thankfully, no one noticed, but that didn’t matter; the panic made his body go into overload. He dashed behind a corner and almost collapsed, his breath becoming heavy. He was terrified. Even more than before. His parents, his own parents, were in mortal danger, and there wasn’t anything he could do. He nearly cried from the panic.
Then he took a deep breath, then another. It barely helped, but it was enough to get him to focus.
“Okay.” He thought, “How do I do this? What could even stop those punks? I need to-”
He looked and saw his hands pulsing with high volts of electricity. He reached out, and a bolt of lightning, small as it was, bounced lightly around the room, hitting several boxes, though causing minimal noise. His brain lit up.
He charged up the electricity, causing some flashes. The criminals noticed, and three men from earlier stormed in. The two in the back pointed their guns in that direction. Suddenly, the men in yellow were struck down by the electricity, with the same force as a taser. Then, the other two men’s guns were hit by the ricochet, causing them to fire into the ceiling, culminating in the two men dropping their weapons from the pain. Their faces showed fear through their masks. One bolted, but before he could, Tyler grabbed a chair and chucked it at him, hitting the runner in the back and causing him to fall.
The final man kneeled in terror. Babbling and sobbing,
“Please, don’t hurt me-”
Tyler huffed, not saying a word; his parents were right there, and he didn’t even make eye contact with them as he strided to the man, grabbed him, and chucked him into a container of peanuts, knocking the criminal unconscious. He looked on as the people in the room suddenly all smiled in relief.
One man asked, “Thank you, kid, who the heck are ya?”
Tyler smiled slightly, but said nothing as he suddenly fast-traveled away from the building and back home, leaving the restaurant in shock and disbelief. Everyone’s jaw dropped, as if the previous displays weren’t enough, the blue-and-yellow-dressed vigilante just up and disappeared.
Lucas fumbled for his phone and called the police, while his adjacent wife mumbled,
“How ‘bout that?”
Everyone talked amongst themselves, wondering who the teenager was, all shocked and amazed. Even as the police cars rolled in to secure the place, everyone was bustling with chatter.
If only Lucas and Pamela knew who had just saved their skin.
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Tyler practically keeled over once he arrived in his room. He threw off his costume and hastily threw on a pair of shorts. He huffed, folding up the clothes and putting them in a box under his bed. He didn’t like hiding under his bed; he would’ve rather put it in a more hidden place, but it would do for now. His back collapsed into his bed, sinking into the somewhat-organized sheets. He groaned,
“Well that’s a load off my dang shoulders… Thank goodness I kept my mouth shut! They would’ve recognized me!”
He sighed. “What was I thinking?” He punched his pillow and huffed. As he did, he sighed,
“Not even a full day, and I already broke my word. I…” He gazed upon the Spider-Man poster in his room.
“Stop glaring at me, Web-Head.” He growled, the poster continuing to maintain its expressive yet inanimate gaze.
“I mean, what do I do? I’m not saving people, it’s not my job. I can’t…” His eyes widened as he looked down at the space under his bed, the costume, an empty husk, drooped over some other old garments from years past. He yanked out his costume and started to ponder.
“I don’t need to be a hero. I can be a guardian. I can…” His eyes gazed upon his phone’s wallpaper once more, focused on his dad’s face. “I can protect him. I can protect… My dad’ll be…” His eyes welled up at the prospect.
His whole life, he had heard stories about all the horrible ways cops had died in the line of duty. It was what always scared him about his dad: his father was a serious risk-taker, and it was a terrifying thought, waking up one morning to find out your dad was shot, stabbed, or mutilated by some driver high on meth. All because it was his job. And for 14 years, he had put up with it long enough. Tyler had made his decision.
“I don’t want to be a hero. I love them, but it’s not me. But with this.. Power.” His hands pulsed from his surge of emotion.
“I can keep him safe. I can’t be a hero, but I can at least keep him out of danger.” The thoughts overflowed like water. His gaze landed upon the suit, now strewn onto the floor, as he picked up the ski goggles. He then shoved the suit back as he heard his parents unlocking the front door.
Tyler made his way to the dining room, smiling softly as he saw his parents, never having been more relieved in his life. They both looked like they had been on a roller coaster, with messy hair and wide eyes, but they still had the food, just as they had said. He hugged them tightly, mumbling,
“I thought you two were dead.”
His parents almost broke down. Both seemed so happy to see him. And when Emily came out of her room, she seemed so confused. Her face wore confusion at the sight of her family members breaking down. She asked what was going on, and her parents stated they were all super exhausted. Of course, the girl was sceptical, but ignored it as an “adult thing”.
Tyler awkwardly shifted, realizing he didn’t tell her, yet, somehow, his parents didn’t bother him for it.
Tyler was practically bouncing for the food, and it had been years since he had been this excited to eat with his family. And now, with his mind (loosely) set on his plan, it would come into action the next morning. As he organized his thoughts, he overheard his dad muttering,
“Never in my life. The Captain is gonna think I’m crazy. I may have to change departments.”
Tyler thought to himself, “Don’t worry about it, Dad. I’ll be by your side.” He smiled to himself as he finished the last bites of his burger.
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“Sir! Sir! Darn it, where is the VP?! I need to see the man, now!” A man’s voice rang out through the bustling office under the Capitol Building. No one paid any attention to his voice, except for one woman in a navy tie. The man asked again. “Where in the heavens is the VP?”
The lady chuckled; her brown eyes had a calm air.
“Bodie. He’s in his office, quit panicking, it can’t be that serious.”
The man ignored the chiding as he practically dashed through the hallway and rapped on the door.
“Come in.” A voice lightly reverberated from inside. The man on the outside came in.
The room looked very dull, with various trophies and documents displayed around, the only change to the white and brown color scheme. There lay a desk off to the right of the room, juxtaposing the bookshelf on the left. Sitting at the desk was the Director, Andrew Thomas. However, everyone in the office referred to him as Andres, as did his family.
He had a calm smile, but his eyes shone with cunning. He stroked his stubble as he noticed a panting Bodie in front of him. His mouth opened slightly, “Well. You awen’t one of awe investors. You’re one of the connections membas, awen’t you?” He laughed haughtily, Northern accent shining.
Bodie nodded shyly.
“Yes, sir, I am. And I understand you’re only second in command to the senior leadership, making you the VP.”
Andres’s smirk faltered. “And in what way does this matter?” He locked eyes with Bodie, and the other man blushed in a panic. The bashful man pulled out his laptop, logged in, and opened a video file.
At first, the Director beside him was unimpressed. Nevertheless, out of some respect and “kindness” from his heart. He watched the video. It was footage pulled from both Instagram and a small-time news station in North Carolina. The thought of something from Instagram of all things seemed so stupid, but before he could open his mouth. He saw it. The one in blue and yellow. The man flinging bolts of electricity like they were mere darts.
That same gleam returned.
“Hand me my phone.” He commanded. And Bodie obeyed. Andres dialed a number. “
Mr. President,” He said, “I’ve got myself a big idea. Check the videos I sent you. And tell the Senior Leadahship to call in our men. Tell them we have a situation in-” He paused and asked the shy man where it was from.
“Central North Carolina, Garner. The White Oak plaza.” He now said in an organized manner.
He overheard an answer.
“I will organize a meeting tomorrow with the Council and The Chairman as soon as possible. My plane will be on the ground in a few hours.” Stated the President in his shaky voice.
The VP smirked as he opened a drawer in his desk to pull out a pen for him to take.
“Wonderful. Thank ya, Mr. President.” As he put down the phone. He gazed down at the now-paused video footage, analyzing the details further.
“How intriguing.” He mouthed as he picked up the pen engraved with “V.I.C.E” upon it. He clicked it slightly as he jotted down some information onto a notepad.
“Bodie.” He muttered. “Do me a fava, if you can.” He tutted. “Could you run to my lockah? I have a thumb drive I’d like to use. I’ll make sure that nothing happens to your computah.”
Andres grinned, eyes gleaming like rubies. His thoughts began to organize themselves rigidly as Bodie paced out of the room through the corner of the director’s eye.
When he finally got his smooth and nimble hands upon the drive, his smirk grew wider as he pulled up a text file, then inserted the drive inside. The file contained many names, most of which were crossed out. Then he added a name, or rather, a label,
“Teenager/young adult in North Carolina with electricity. Major priority.” He growled thoughtfully at the prospect.
“Knowing the President, it will take no time for approval to be sent. Here’s hopin’ my friend up top isas swift in delivry.” He huffed, pondering his situation with gleaming eyes as Bodie took the director’s mutterings as a cue to get out of the office. The door closed behind the shy man as he heard one last thing before the door shut.
“V.I.C.E. will be ready; time is not on your side, kid. Tsk.” The Cheshire grin on Andres’s face returned as he looked over the footage one final time.
He ejected the hard drive and went to make himself a cup of tea. And as he locked his office door behind him, he muttered something maliciously,
“I had better call MST. I’ll need ‘em now anyhow. The more they prevent word from spreadin’, the better. Though that may be difficult given how… ‘The Internet is permanent.’ ” He laughed sarcastically and walked out. “But time ‘ill tell.”
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and then Add to home screen.