Radioactive [Early Draft, On Indefinite Hiatus]

Chapter 3 - Superhuman

Chapter 3:

Superhuman

Derek awoke upon the seat of the bus, feeling weak and feeble. The last thing he remembered was being pushed into the nuclear reactor by Peter. The whisper he had heard kept replaying in his head. What did it mean? As the blurry image before him became more vivid, Derek was able to make out the two figures of Eric and Allison. Derek let out a groan before asking:

"What happened?"

Eric began.

"Well, me and Allison found Mr. Miller and told him about what had happened. He called 911 and let the people who worked at the Institute know that you fell inside the reactor. All of the people Mr. Miller contacted worked together to rescue you."

Allison continued.

"They got you out, but they found you unconscious, and they got worried. They sent you to the Institute's infirmary and did tests on you. They looked at your blood and stuff, and after a while they said you where fine. Peter got expelled shortly afterward for pushing you in."

"Seriously? Whoa."

"Yeah"

Derek was satisfied that Peter was finally gone, but he couldn't help but think about his physical health. Would he be okay?

"Umm... Did I say anything while I was unconscious?"

"Actually, yeah. You were muttering something about 'the new age' or something. Allison said she thought she heard someone else say that before."

"Imagine Dragons?"

The two boys looked at Allison.

'Um, no. Somewhere else. It was like a whisper..."

"Actually, me too.

"Where?"

"At the Institute, before I got pushed in."

"Whoa, really?"

"Yeah. It was one sentence."

"What was it?

"It was 'Welcome to the new age, my friend...', and that's it."

"Was the voice kind of deep?"

"Not really, but at the 'My friend...' part it sounded kind of low."

There was a moment of silence. Apparently Allison seemed to know what he was talking about. Yet how?

🌀🌀🌀

It was Saturday, the first day of summer vacation. Derek was walking along the road, deep in his thoughts. If he fell into a nuclear reactor, how come he was still the same? Suddenly, he kicked a small pebble that was in his way approximately 30 yards away. Derek watched it fly across the asphalt surface until it was out of view. He ran after it, and noticed he was moving faster. Much faster. Soon, he had arrived at where the pebble had landed in less than a minute's time. Derek was curious, so he jumped as high as he could, which was normally about up to 7 inches. Instead, he reached up to a mile high. Now Derek was terrified. He hadn't the slightest idea what was happening. He could feel his stomach do a somersault. Then before he knew it, Derek starting hurtling towards the ground at high speed. He tried finding something to grab, but to no avail. Derek was doomed. What else could he do but plummet to his death? That was when Derek had an idea. He positioned himself so that he was diving headfirst towards the ground. Then he balled his hand into a fist and held it outward. Derek waited patiently for the landing. He saw the street coming into view. He flew through white, fluffy clouds, which drenched him in water as he descended. Then finally, it was time. Derek counted down in his head. 3, 2, 1...

BOOOOM!!!

Derek's fist hit the asphalt do hard that he caused the ground to shake. Where his hand had collided with the ground was a massive hole, and he was standing in it's center. Derek looked around and saw a puddle of water in the distance. He walked over so he could see his reflection. He surveyed himself, taking note of his features. His neat, brown hair lay perfectly in place. His pale, chapped pink lips stayed closed. Then Derek observed his eyes. They were also brown, with hints of blue near the pupil. Suddenly, his eyes flashed abruptly the color of neon green, then faded back to their usual color. Derek looked back up. He finally understood. He was stronger. He was superhuman.

He was radioactive.