Powered Individuals

Chapter 1 - Here We Go Again

Another town, another mob chasing me out. At this point it barely fazed me, but I wasn't what you would call normal.

I had the ability to conduct electricity about as well as a tin can rolling in a lightning storm. Yeah, it sounds cool, but you'd get tired of it as soon as you get run out of a town for the twentieth time. My powers also had this thing where they decide to spiral out of control at random times. Kind of like how you accidentally shock something after you shuffle your socks across the carpet, but about ten times worse and the "something" that you shock just so happens to be your elderly old neighbor.

Not fun.

I could hear the yells getting closer as I jumped over a log and nearly dodged a couple trees. My destination was the main power plant for the town I was temporarily staying in. That way, I could easily overpower the crowd chasing after me and hopefully scare them away.

I saw the giant smokestacks of the building over the tops of the trees and increased my speed. I finally made it to the doors of the plant and forced them open before the crowd could swamp me.

Stumbling inside, I looked around for some kind of generator I could draw electricity from. The screams outside were getting louder and I quickly spotted a few pieces of equipment that looked plausible enough to conduct some sparks.

I grabbed the rods and immediately felt power surge through my system. Before I could become overwhelmed with electricity, I let go and faced the crowd now inside the plant with sparking fists.

"Surrender, freak!" Some guy yelled from the front. "You're outnumbered. We've already got the police on the way so don't even think about making anything explode."

I couldn't help but snort a little at that comment. I could do so much more than make things explode. I could flatten whole cities with electrical surges if I wanted, but that was my cynical side talking.

The sounds of sirens wailing were apparent in the distance and I knew that I was running out of options. I couldn't do anymore jail time. My record was already stocked full of destruction that was all accidental. I didn't need to add a whole town to that list.

"I really don't want to hurt you, but you've given me no choice," I announced. I closed my eyes and let the power stored in my muscles spread to my arms and legs. There were screams of terror as a few people decided to book it.

My eyes shot open and all I could see was everything bathed in a purple-ish glow. I jumped forward and sent a fist into the ground, cracking the asphalt and spreading lightning across the already spider-webbing cracks.

Electricity climbed up the walls and shocked other pieces of equipment, causing things to fall from the ceiling and giant generators to spark. Everything was falling apart, and those left in the plant nearly got crushed by falling stones.

I let out a final burst of energy and collapsed to the ground. I heard the sirens fully evident now. I was sure that I was going to be arrested again, and so I just gave up.

Lying on the ground of the plant, I barely noticed as heavy footsteps climbed over the rubble and approached me. My eyes cracked open tiredly to see a pair of penny loafers stopped in front of my sure enough wounded body. I slowly lifted my gaze to meet the piercing one of a wrinkled face.

The man smiled widely and knelt down, brushing my black hair out of my face. I couldn't get up, so I let him speak to me.

"Hello, Zoe. It's nice to finally meet you," he spoke in a low voice. A small amount of surprise shocked through my body. How did he know my name?

"W-w-who....are you...?" I croaked out. The man looked back toward the doorway and avoided my question, hauling me up and dragging me over the rocks.

"We have to get you somewhere safe. Here," I felt him prop me against a wall and place a cold hand on my shoulder. Soon enough, the regular tingling sensation of my powers dispersed, and I felt normal.

As I opened my eyes more out of newly found strength, I saw that it wasn't a cold hand that was on my shoulder. The man retracted his hand and clicked a button on his wrist. The once frigid metal that was just placed on me spun into a silver watch on his arm. He had a metal glove.

The man must have seen my surprised expression, as he was chuckling slightly. "Don't worry. It's just to dull your powers for a bit. That way you won't explode in the car to the agency. That would truly be a tragedy."

I weakly smiled and let myself collapse onto the supportive shoulder of the man. I didn't care who he was, but he was about as weird as I was. And I also trusted him due to the fact that he hadn't tried to kill me because I had powers.

Although I felt a little stronger now that the buzzing from my lightning, I was still immensely tired from nearly making a power plant go sub zero. My eyes were trying to close, but I wanted to stay awake to see where this guy was going to take me.

My hearing started to fade as I heard arguing and shouting from outside the power plant. I was groggily handed over to someone else and was ordered to be taken to the car.

The last thing I remember hearing before I went completely under was something I wouldn't ever forget; something so true I wish I would have believed it and prepared myself.

"Next stop, the agency. Hold on, Zoe, you're in for a hell of a ride."