Mod Superhero

Chapter 1.2.1 - Mutagen Bust

The sun was setting over the skyline of Belport, and superheroes were running across the roofs.

Emmett Laraway was one of them.

Emmett ran across the rooftops, leaping across alleys with superhuman agility. Even now, Mutagen-A was changing his cells, making his bones denser, his muscles stronger, and his organs more efficient. He even healed faster. Not even the winter wind bothered Emmett, though he still wore a dark hoodie and a black mask.

Almost a month ago, Emmett had watched longingly from the street as superheroes passed above in a blur. Now he was one of them.

Everything had changed since his near-death experience in the Champion street attack. His biological enhancements were only part of it.

Ahead of him, Athena ran across invisible platforms that spanned from one roof to the next, creating them one after the other. Her long white hair trailed after her, and the evening light glinted off the shards of glass woven into her jacket.

Emmett could have followed her across the platforms, but he didn't need to anymore. Instead, in midair, Emmett opened the compartment in his prosthetic right arm and slung the hidden whip like a grappling hook. It latched onto the top of the next roof and Emmett pulled himself upward.

Athena glanced over the roof at Emmett and let out an amused chuckle with a hint of disgust. "I'm still not used to seeing that."

Emmett hurled himself over the edge and landed easily on the roof, the whip retracting back into his mechanical arm. He understood her sentiments—there were times it caught him off guard, too. He wasn't sure exactly how Dr. Venture had managed it, but the prosthetic arm looked normal. The synthetic skin was indistinguishable from the real thing, but underneath Emmett was able to hold several hidden devices.

In the upper arm compartment, he'd been sticking to carrying smoke pellets and caltrops, the latter of which were meant for pursuing vehicles but Emmett hadn't used them yet. He kept the rest of his incidentals in his utility belt. In the forearm compartment, he'd kept the mechanical whip that Venture had developed.

Emmett could swap out the expendable tools in his upper arm compartment, and eventually he would be able to do the same for his forearm compartment. That way, he could pick the right modification, a.k.a. mod, for the job.

If he was expecting a gunfight, Emmett could swap his whip for a pistol or a portable shield. Honestly, the last few weeks had been such a whirlwind that Emmett hadn't gotten to experiment as much with his mods as he wanted. But he resolved to change by the time he graduated in the Spring.

Despite the mutagen flowing through his body, his arm was where he got his superhero name:

Mod.

It was a little on the nose, but it reminded him of Arsenal, a super who'd worn exosuit-like sets of power armor—named for being a literal walking, flying arsenal of weapons.

He'd literally figured it out about two minutes ago.

"I like it," Athena said as they paused on the roof. "It's short and simple. And it makes sense—well once you know what mod means. It always bothers me when supers have names that don't make sense. Like a psychic named Cold Heart, or someone with super speed named Chuck."

"Those aren't real heroes, are they?"

Athena ignored Emmett, instead crouching down by the edge of the roof. Instinctively, Emmett followed her lead.

A moment later, she pointed down the side street toward a white van. "I think this is our mark."

They watched it as it stopped in front of their building and backed up to the loading bay. Workers hopped out of the van and stepped out from the bay, all with hats pulled low over their faces.