Legend of the Thunderbird

Chapter 1

I got up from my bed. The morning sun shined brightly through the window.
"Looks pretty good today."
I walked to my closet and got dressed. I put on a black sweater, gray pants and black shoes. Finally, I put on a blue sleeveless jacket over the sweater. I went downstairs, where breakfast was waiting for me.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Jane said.
"Ha, ha. Very funny, Jane." I responded.
Jane's my mother, or, more accurately, my foster mother. I'm an orphan. For most of my life, I lived in Grant's Home For The Children. When I was seven, I was adopted by Jane and her husband, Henry. Now I'm sixteen.
"Well, what's for breakfast?" I asked.
"Pancakes and bacon." Jane said.
"Great."
My favorite.
But then I noticed, something was missing. I looked around the dining room.
"Henry's gone off to work, hasn't he?"
"Where else?"
Henry isn't very active in the family. He always has business to do. He rarely spends time with Jane.
"Haven't you talked to him?" I asked Jane.
"I have, but he takes work too seriously." Jane said.
"That's just wrong."
"I know."
Well, that's none of my business.
"Well, I'm done. Mind if I go out? I promised Jessica I would go hang out with her." I asked.
"Sure," Jane replied. "Just don't take too long."
"Got it."
"Oh, and one more thing, Travis."
"Yes?"
"Be careful with...your...you know."
"Yeah."
I go out the door and start walking to the park, where Jessica's waiting for me. She's my best friend. After all, she's the only one I can have a normal conversation. I've known her ever since I was adopted, nine years ago. But there's a one reason why we're friends. I can control electricity, mainly lighting. As far-fetched as that seems, I can. I first discovered this when I was five. First, it was little sparks coming from my body, then the sparks gradually became stronger. Then, they became lightning bolts. Then, I found out that with enough concentration, I could control the lightning, and stop it from happening randomly. Eventually, Jane found out about my ability but she kept it hidden from Henry. He'd probably flip out, if he found out. Jessica found out too. Surprisingly, she wasn't terrified or anything. She showed me that she had an ability similar to mine. However, instead of lighting, she could control water. It felt great knowing that I wasn't the only one in this world with this ability. That's why we're friends. I finally arrived at the park, and there, in the same bench, as always, was Jessica.
"Hey, Sparky. You're here!"
Hmm. Great sense of humor.
"What do you mean, Water-Works? I'm always here."
"I know, I'm only messing with you."
"Sure. So what's up?"
"Well, I kinda wanted to talk about our...powers."
"We always talk about our powers."
No joke, if she calls me to hang out, this will be the first thing we talk about.
"So do you think you would ever use your powers to fight?"
"Like superheroes? Yeah, I guess. That is, if I could control it right."
"I thought you could control it."
"Only from random outbursts. But a successful strike? Nope."
I've actually tried doing that. I tried to make a lightning burst to hit a target I made. It failed. Instead of hitting the target, I struck myself. Don't ask me how I managed to do that, because even I don't know the answer to that.
"Wow. Bummer. Do you think somebody could teach us how to use our powers as defense?"
"You're asking the wrong person, Jess."
"Anyways, there's this rumor-"
"You should never believe in rumors, Jess. They could be fake."
"Here me out on this one. Apparently, there's this guy who's like us!"
I jolted upward. Like us?
"You mean...?"
"Yes! We're not the only ones!"
I was just awestruck. Could it be?
"Wait. Do you know what his power is?"
"No, unfortunately."
"Damn. Where'd you hear this at?"
"Police station. My best guess is that he's a wanted man."
Hmm.
"Well, if it's from the police station, then I guess it's a valid source."
"Probably. You wanna investigate?"
"You know it! I gotta find out who this guy is!"