H.O.P.E (A Super Hero Story)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: First Mission

The group searched for the General and his forces for three weeks with no luck. They kept their eyes glued whenever a news story about them aired, but there were no more hints about where General Sheppard might be. The Altimoor scoured the skies above the U.S., using alien technology to stay invisible to both satellites and eyes on the ground. During the rest of their time, the group kept training to find the full extent of their powers.

Val had learned that the larger the object he moved, the greater the strain on his mind. When he lifted heavier objects, his migraines became severe. Theo experienced more of a personality change. He was essentially the same, but grew more arrogant and hot-headed. Whenever he got angry, he sulked and secluded himself from everyone else, working on new inventions. Abby had found her powers had limits. While she could absorb high amounts of electricity from an external source, her body could only generate a limited supply. If she used her supply for speed, there wouldn't be enough for external use, like her patented lightning kick that she kept trying to perfect. The same was true for the opposite, where if she used her power supply for lightning, there was no more left for speed, so she needed a constant source to tap into. Miko provided that mostly, though that didn't come without consequences. She was able to manipulate five classical elements: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Lightning, but only one at time. She had to wait about 10 to 15 seconds to switch between them. Alex being the newest to their training time, had to remind himself to shift into his protective suit or else he'd burn up. At first, he needed anger or another strong emotion to trigger his metamorphoses, but now he could do it whenever. On the other hand, too many quick changes exhausted him. He found another problem; if he stayed in an animal form too long, he began to think like the animal. Herbivores lasted longer, like rabbits or horses, while carnivores like wolves and tigers minds crept in quicker. He guessed it had to do with said animal's ferocity.

While learning to overcome or compensate for their weaknesses one day, Alex had a thought he shared.

"Hey, dudes, do you think we should have code names?"

"What?" The rest asked collectively.

"You know, like in the comics, with Alpha Man, Cyber Woman, or the Z-Force? They had cool names for their group and themselves. Shouldn't we have 'em, too?"

Val pondered for a bit, then said, "Well it would be better, since we're presumed missing. If we need to talk in public looking like this, we can't call each other by our given names."

"So, then, what would our names be, eh?" Theo asked.

"I think I already got one," Abby said. "Theo, you remember what you said to me the night we busted out, when the Tweedles wheeled me to Doc's lab?"

"Of course," he replied, with a hint of a sharp tone. "I told ya to give him a swift shock."

"And when I did, I told him to call me 'Swiftshock' instead of 'Sparky.' It was a heat of the moment thing, but now I find it appropriate."

The rest agreed that her new name suited her. Next to choose their name was Val, who was having a tough time of it.

"I'm not entirely sure. I'll need to think for a bit."

"Hey wait," Abby said. "You said 'think.' What's Spanish for 'think?'"

"Pensar."

"Perfect."

Val nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. Next to pick a name was Theo, who had some choices.

"Well, it depends. Given my new skills, I could go by Techno, Gadget, the Engineer..."