//------------------------------// // Future Story: Superheroes PT2 // Story: Flash Sentry One-Shots // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// "GONE!?" The growling voice of Darklight echoed through the remains of his damaged ship, "what do you mean it's gone!?" As we arrive at the bridge, we find that the place had almost been completely destroyed. Every console was sparking with smashed screens and randomly flashing buttons. And in the middle of the room, replacing the metal throne, was a large tube connected to the floor and ceiling. And inside the tube was Darklight, the mad alien's body almost entirely destroyed. His arms and legs had been turned to stubs and his body was badly burnt. He was wearing a rebreather over his face to allow him to breath in the liquid keeping him alive. And currently, he was talking to one of the few remaining robots still operational after the explosion that had destroyed Darklight's ship and wrecked his body. "Sensors indicate the last shot we fired hit the meteor, destroying all but a small junk of it. The remaining MagnaForce inside it then reacted with the energy from the blast. Combining that with the meteor's intense speed, a wormhole opened up that may have sent the meteor to another universe." Darklight growled. He had not been in his right mind when he ordered that last attack, the pain from his injuries causing him to act without thinking. "MagnaForce is an energy that can open up dimensional portals. Who knows what universe it may end up in." "Our computers were able to remain online long enough to track the energy signature. Once the ship has been repaired, we should be able to reopen the wormhole and travel to the other universe. However..." "What?" "There may be some time differential due to the wormhole's effect. It has only been several hours since the meteor travelled through it, but on the other side many days may have passed." "Meaning the meteor could be on the other side for months, if not years before we can get there." "Correct. And even if we repair the ship at double, or even triple, the normal speed, you will not be able to survive travelling through the wormhole until your body has been repaired." "Then we have no choice. Prepare a retrieval robot to send through the wormhole. I will not be denied." "Yes, master. It will take several hours to complete this, but who knows how long that will before on the other side." "Then work quickly. And if anyone gets in the way of my goals, I will crush them into oblivion." The first thing Brad noticed was music. And not just any music, but one of his favourite songs. The song seemed to get louder and louder by the second, though he quickly realised it was because he was growing more and more awake. Eventually, his eyes began to flutter open before shutting with a flinch due to the light that was above him. He groaned as he tried to sit up, his entire body feeling stiff as he looked around. He quickly realised he was in a hospital room, the boringly painted walls, wooden desk and chairs with the old fashioned wall mounted television being dead giveaways to his location. Brad pulled his sheets off of him and looked down to see he was wearing blue hospital pyjamas. "Err," he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. His legs felt a bit weak, but they quickly adjusted and began to hold him up. It was then that the door opened and a nurse came in, only to gasp when she saw him and rush back out. As she was gone, Brad's stomach growled. He spotted a fruit basket next to him and grabbed an orange. But no sooner had he peeled, the door burst open with several doctors rushing in. One took the orange away while another pushed him back onto the bed before they started doing checks on him. "What's going on?" He asked, the doctors not saying anything and instead mumbling some medical mumbo jumbo to one another. "Where am I?" "You're at Canterlot Hospital," a doctor finally responded before another doctor handed him a cup. "I need you to urinate." "What?" "Maybe later," the first doctor took the cup before turning to the others. "prehaps we should give him some space." The others nodded and left the room, leaving Brad and him alone. "alright," he turned back to Brad, "here are the facts. You've been in a coma." Brad's eyes went wide in shock, "for how long?" "Nine months." "WHAT!?" Brad's scream echoed through the hospital, only for the doctor to smile. "I'm just kidding. It's only been a week." Brad sighed in relief, it being at that moment that he remembered what had happened. "The meteor." The doctor looked confused by this but decided to ignore it and continue to do the basic tests. "You've missed quite a week. There was a big blast that sent a shockwave out across the city, knocking out the power for two days. You were found at the blast site, so people have been pretty anxious for you to wake up and explain what happened." "I'm...not really sure myself." "Well, you'll have plenty of time to figure it out. I don't care what happened. I just care about making sure you're healthy. Now let's get these tests done before your parents arrive." Brad nodded and let the doctor do his job, even doing the whole peeing in a cup thing. By the time he finished the last test, the door burst open and his mother ran in with his dad behind her. "BRAD!" She rushed over and pulled Brad into a hug, the teen choking due to how tight she was holding him. "Good to see you up champ," Tray patted his shoulder. "You okay?" "Just...confused." "Makes sense," his dad sat down while his mother looked him in the eye. "What happened? When the power went off, your dad and I went to check on the city and then we found you in that field with your car rolled over." Brad quickly realised they had been the first to find him, likely both terrified for him. "I'm sorry I scared you." Tray stood up, "just tell us what happened." "I'd like to know that too." The three looked around and saw Detective Shawn Spencer in the doorway. He stepped inside and flashed his police badge to the teen before sitting next to him. "I asked to be notified when you woke up." "Why?" Brad felt very nervous, "I'm not under arrest, am I?" Shawn shook his head, "no. We just want to know what happened." He then frowned, "what do you remember about the explosion?" Brad sighed as sat back, remembering back to the last thing he remembered before waking up. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." "As long as you don't lie, I'll believe you." "Alright," he took a deep breath and explained everything to him and his parents. Shawn was intrigued by this while his parent's expressions shifted between curiosity and worry. "Then I woke up here. I don't remember anything between." "I see," Shawn sat back. "That's quite a story." "Told you you wouldn't believe me." "I didn't say I didn't believe you. I just said it was quite a story. Other officers would probably think you're making it up, but I don't think you're a liar." Brad looked surprised by this. "I looked into you after you were found. No criminal record. No incidents at all. I asked at your school and everyone said you were a good kid. Heck, you even helped my sister out during her first day. She said she made some pretty good friends thanks to you." Brad wondered what he meant until he remembered his second name. "Spencer? Like, Tracy Spencer." Shawn nodded. "Nice to hear she's making friends." "Thanks to your advice." Michelle smiled. "She and the rest of your friends actually came to visit you while you were asleep." Brad smiled at this, "I'm sure they'll be happy to hear you're awake." Shawn then seemed to get serious as he continued with his question. "Alright kid, now I need to know if you remember anything else about the accident. Mainly, did you see anything driving down the road before you were knocked unconscious." Despite his confusion, Brad closed his eyes and thought about it. His memory was pretty focused on the meteor. But then a single, fuzzy, image appeared at the forefront of his mind. "Wait, I think I remember seeing something before I got blasted. Maybe...a bus. A big one, grey I think." "Was it still driving?" "Maybe." Shawn sat back, "so it was the explosion." "What's this about?" Shawn turned to give him a worried look. "That bus was actually a prison transport. It was carrying eight criminals that had been convicted guilty in court that day. We believe the explosion caused the bus to be knocked over, allowing the criminals to escape." "Seriously?" Shawn nodded. "There were five guards on that bus. Three we believe died due to the explosion, but the other two may have been killed by the escapees." Brad frowned hearing this, the thought of eight criminals on the loose kinda scaring him. "We were worried the explosion was caused just to free them, but by the looks of things it wasn't." He got up and headed for the door, "well I need to be off. My superiors will be interested in hearing about this. Hope you're feeling better kid." "Thanks," Brad nodded as Shawn left. Once he was gone, he and his parents talked about everything that had happened in the week he was asleep. The doctors soon came in with the results of his test, explaining that he was in absolutely perfect health. "Your body had a few bruises here and there and your head had some mild swelling, which went down overnight." The doctor smiled at him, "physically there's no reason you can't be discharged." "So soon?" Michelle asked, looking concerned. "When a coma patient wakes up, the amount of time they remain in the hospital is due to how long it'll take them to regain function in their body. According to the nurse, your son can already stand and walk." "Heck yeah I can," Brad pulled himself out of bed before anyone could stop him. Standing to full height, he walked around the room with no issue whatsoever. His parents looked a little concerned but the doctor smiled. "I'd like to keep him in overnight for observation. But if everything checks out, he can be released tomorrow." Brad and his parents all smiled at that before the doctor asked the older Sengoods to come and sign a few things. Brad sat back and tried to relax, only for his doors to open up again. But this time, he smiled seeing his friends step inside. "Dude!" Sandal and Micro stepped over to him, "you really are awake." "You had us worried," Micro told him. "What happened to you." "Sorry I worried you guys. But you won't believe what happened to me." Once again, he went over what had happened and the two of them looked just as amazed as Shawn was. "Then I woke up." "Awesome." "Not awesome," Micro frowned. "An unknown space rock exploded in his face. For all we know, it could have had some kind of radiation that he's been infected with." "The doctors didn't detect any radiation," Brad pointed out. "If they did, you really think they'd let anyone near me." "Just because they didn't detect it, doesn't mean it didn't affect you. It might have died down before anyone could scan you for it. You might have some kind of radiation sickness for all we know." "Guys, I'm fine. The doctors said I was okay. So relax. I'm not gonna drop dead any time soon." The two looked unsure, Brad seeing he'd need to prove it to them. But before he could- "Knock knock," they looked around and saw the Rainbooms step into the room with Applejack holding another fruit basket. "Hey, partner. Heard ya'h were up." She threw him an apple, Brad catching it with barely a thought. Pinkie then rushed over before pulling him into the tightest hug he'd ever experienced, "I'm so happy you're up." She let him go. "So, what happened? Was it aliens, terrorists, wigglows?" "Wigglows?" "Mutant worms that glow in the dark and want to take over the world. I heard Texas's been having issues with them lately." "Riiiight," it's Pinkie Pie, don't question it. "Well, it wasn't wigglows." "Then what was it?" Rainbow asked, Brad sighing since he really wasn't in the mood for telling this story again. "Micro, fill them in." He sat back and let the bespectacled teen repeat what he told them, the girls looking shocked by this. "So it was aliens!" Pinkie cheered. "I wouldn't call a meteor alien," Rarity told her. "Did it come from space?" "Yes." "Do aliens come from space?" "Yes." "Then the meteor was alien." Rarity was about to retort, but she decided to leave it and focus back on Brad. "We're just happy to see you're alright, darling." Fluttershy nodded, "we were worried when we heard what had happened." Rainbow then got up close to the teen, "is it true that a bunch of crooks escaped because of what happened?" "Apparently. If you're wanting details, don't ask me. I didn't even know about it until Detective Spencer told me." "You met my brother?" He turned to Tracy, seeing her looking at him curiously. He smirked. "Yeah. He wanted to know what happened, just like you guys. The police were worried the explosion was planned." "But it wasn't?" Sunset asked him. "As far as I can tell. Just some freak accident I was stupid enough to get into." He sat back, "I should have just kept driving." "I don't know," Tracy explained. The others turned to her. "I remember hearing my brother say your car got flipped by the explosion. If you'd been in it, you might have gotten hurt worse then you were." Brad hadn't considered that, nodding when he realised she could be right. Pinkie smiled as she put an arm around the glasses-wearing girl's neck, "that's our Twilight." "Twilight?" "Twilight Sparkle. It's her new nickname." Brad turned to Tracy...Twilight, smiling at her. "Great to hear. So by the looks go things, you made some good friends." "Yeah," Twilight nodded, "you were right that our differences wouldn't matter." Applejack smirked. "So it seems we got you to thank for getting her to open up to us." Brad just shrugged, the girl tipping her hat as his parents returned. Since the room was so crowded, most of them chose to leave so others could come to say their hellos. And it turned out a lot of people were wanting to see him. Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came and told him he didn't have to rush to return to school, though Brad didn't want to spend weeks doing nothing. Several more of his classmates showed up to give him their regards, such as Mary Derpin, Patricia Lulamoon, Heath Burns and many more. His parents, Micro and Sandal all stayed the whole time until the visiting hours finally came to an end and they had to leave. Once they were gone, Brad spent his time watching television until it was finally time for lights out. As the darkness overcame him, Brad sat back and tried to sleep. But it wasn't easy since he felt wide awake. That made sense, considering he'd been asleep for over a week. So he just laid there, his eyes closed as he tried to finally fall asleep. And as he slowly managed to drift off to a near sleep-like state, something happened. The veins on Brad's arms and neck were slowly turning light blue before they began to emit a weak glow. The light was so weak, it didn't awaken him or catch the attention of anyone outside his room. He just laid there, the light continuing radiate off of him for several long minutes until the light finally died down and his veins returned to normal. Seconds later, the door opened with a nurse stepping in to check on him. She checked his pulse oximeter and did several other overlooks until she confirmed everything was alright so left to continue her round. The next day. "Home sweet home," Brad sighed as he and his parents stepped into their apartment. Brad had just been discharged from the hospital as soon as he'd woken up, his parents picking him up to bring home. On the way home, they'd explained that Pinkie had prepared a party for his release that they were gonna head to once the teen had gotten a shower. "Better hurry up," Tray told him. "The guest of honour can't be late, can he." "Are you kidding? It's tradition to show up late to a party." "It's also rude," Michelle told him. "So hurry up." Brad huffed but did so anyway, enjoying one of his favourite downtime activities for a good twenty minutes before getting out and returning to his room. There he found some of his better casual clothes waiting for him, likely his mother's doing, which he changed into before heading out. But as he did, he heard his parents talking. "It's gonna be an awkward phone call," his father explained. "Though it would look bad if we did it by email." Brad heard his mother sigh, "I doubt we'll get another opportunity." "It's not like we could go." "I know. And we have to make sure Brad doesn't find out." "Make sure Brad doesn't find out what?" His parents yelled out as they turned to see him step out infront of them, "what's going on?" "Nothing!" They both explained before their eyes glanced over to a letter on the kitchen counter, Brad quickly rushing over and grabbing it before they could react. He read it over, his eyes going wide before looking up at his parents. "You got invited to Europe?" Michelle sighed, "yes." "That's great." Brad knew how much his parents had been wanting to go on one of these. But then he remembered what they'd been talking about. "Wait. You're not going?" "Of course not," Tray told him. "We'd be gone for six months at the shortest, maybe a year. We can't leave you that long." "You were going to before." "That was before you were put in the hospital," his mother explained. "What kind of parents would we be if we left you for that long when something might happen to you." Brad rolled his eyes, hating the idea of people treating him like he was made out of tinfoil. "Guys, I'm fine. Look at me. I'm completely fine. In fact, I feel better then I've ever felt before." "It's still wouldn't be a good idea to leave you on your own," Michelle told him. "I see," Brad put the paper on the counter before turning away from them. "So I'm the reason you might never get to live your dream." The two looked shocked that he'd say that. "That's not true." "Isn't it?" He turned back to them. "I got into an accident and now you have to turn down something you've been waiting years for. Feels like it too me." They both stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a suspicious look. "Are you trying to guilt-trip us?" "No," Brad shook his head, "I'm just stating the fact. I now have to spend the rest of my life knowing I'm the reason your dream will go unfulfilled." He watched as the two of them glared at him, trying his best to do the best kicked puppy expression he can muster. And eventually, they gave up. "Alright!" Michelle sighed, "we'll go." She then gave Brad a stern look, "but if something happens then you call us right away." Brad nodded. Tray continued. "Even so much as a head cold, you tell us." Brad nodded again. "And you need to eat proper food. Don't spend every day eating pizza and takeout." "I won't, promise." The teen smiled at the lot of them, "so when are you leaving." Michelle sighed, "They want us at the site debrief on Sunday. So we'll be flying out Saturday." Brad did the math, today being Wednesday, realising there were two free days before they had to leave. "Principal Celestia said I don't have to go back to school right away. I could start back up on Monday and maybe we could..." "Spend today, tomorrow and Friday together," Michelle smiled. "I like that," Tray agreed. Brad smiled at them all before his parents sent the email to confirm their joining of the dig. Once that was done, the three headed out to his party. The next three days seemed to pass in a blur. During his party, Brad's parents talked to Micro and Sandal's. Both families agreed to be there for him while they were away, even promising to invite him over for dinner whenever they could. The next day, the three enjoyed a day out that included a movie, mini-golf and checking up on Brad's car. Despite what had happened, the vehicle was mostly in one piece. Most of the damage was to the bodywork, though that wouldn't be too difficult to repair. On Friday, Brad helped his parents pack up everything they needed while in Europe. By the time they were done, their living room was so full of boxes they had to sit on them and use them as tables because they couldn't get to the real ones through the maze of boxes. Despite spending the day moving multiple heavy pieces of machinery, Brad didn't feel tired at all. He'd been expecting to feel sore all over, but he felt completely fine. And so Saturday came around, his parents plane set to take off at three. That allowed them to enjoy brunch at the family's favourite restaurant before arriving at the airport. And after two gruelling hours of airport security, the three found themselves at the boarding gate. "Be good," Michelle told her son after giving him several forehead kisses. "You've got all the numbers you need to contact us, so don't hesitate the call the minute something happens." "Alright," Brad nodded as she finally let him go. This allowed Tray to pull him into a hug, both patting one another on the back until it was finally time for them to board. His parents were the last to board since Michelle wanted to fit in a year's worth of hugs and kisses until she was finally forced to get on the plane. Brad chose to stay at the gate until he watched their plane finally take off, wanting to make sure they actually stayed on it until it was in the air. But eventually, the plane ascended and his parents were gone. Brad was no all on his own for a whole year. A whole year of having an apartment all to himself. If he had the guts, he could throw a party every week. But he didn't. His boring, mundane life would continue the same way it had always had. Brad Sengood, the kid that had nothing interesting about him. That night. Brad laid in his bed, fast asleep yet he kept shifting from side to side. The look on his face wasn't one of pain or discomfort, but it could hardly be called one of serenity. And as he slept, something began to happen. Once again, his veins began to turn blue with an aura too them. The light was so bright it was a miracle he wasn't awakened by it. Brad slowly began to pant, his heart rate increasing every second. And then, blue sparks of lightning began to fly off his body. But despite hitting almost everything in the room, it didn't do any damage to them. His breath and heart increased into a constant stream as his eyes suddenly shot open and unleashed a blinding blue light. The light filled the room but did nothing else, last for almost a whole minute until it finally ceased and Brad's body returned to normal as he fell back to the bed. His breath and heart rate returned to normal and his shifting around stopped, Brad appearing completely at peace. But despite that, a few stray bolts of blue lightning sparked off of him. The next morning. The first thing Brad heard that morning was the alarm, the same as any morning. He let out a yawn as he slowly reached out to press down on the kill button. But that name would come to have new meaning as when Brad pressed down upon it, the entire clock suddenly shattered under the pressure. The cracking sound caused Brad to look around, his eyes going wide at the sight of what he'd just done. Once he'd picked up all the pieces of his destroyed alarm, he headed into the bathroom to wash up. He grabbed his toothbrush and a tube of paste. But when he squirted it out, the whole front of the tube exploded and sent the goop splatting all over the mirror. To say Brad was shocked by this was an understatement, the teen staring at it while reaching for the tap. But once again, he seemed to apply too much pressure and ended up completely breaking the tap off and causing water to spray everywhere. "Gyah!" He stepped back to keep the water from getting on him, trying his best to stop the squirting and eventually managed to turn it off. "What the?" He grabbed a towel to dry off but ended up pulling the whole railing off, making him cry out again and decide to just get the heck out of there. After only using two fingers to open the door, he rushed back to his room to get dressed before leaving the apartment to keep from breaking anything else. So he just started walking through the city, all the while thinking about what had just happened. "Okay," he told himself, "relax. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation to all of this. I've had my alarm for years and I always smack it, so of course it'd eventually give out. The toothpaste bottle was obviously just defective and the tap and railing must have become rusted. Yeah, that's it. A bunch of totally normal reasons to explain-" He didn't get to finish as in that moment, the sound of a loud horn caught his ears and made him look around to see a van racing towards him. He'd accidentally wandered into the road and was about to be hit. "WHOA!" His instincts kicked in, causing him to leap away from the oncoming vehicle. But instead of jumping back, he jumped up. And too his shock, he ended up sailing straight upwards and over the truck. Time seemed to slow down for him, the whole world moving in slow motions as he flipped around the truck. "What's...happening." After he asked, time sped back up and he suddenly found his body moving on its own. The next thing he knew, he was doing several flips and spin until he landed Spider-man style on the ground. To say his little stunt attracted an audience to an understatement, many people staring at him in shock before pulling out their phones. "Nope!" He turned to rush down an alley, not wanting his face plastered all over the internet. But as he rushed into the alley, he suddenly found himself presented by a ten-foot wall. Still wanting to escape, his body picked up speed as he got closer and closer until he jumped. He'd only wanted to get high enough to get a hand on the top, but to his surprise he found himself sailing over the wall. Well, almost. He was so shocked by this sudden development, he didn't notice his foot catching on the wall. "GYAH!" He cried as he shifted midair and found himself heading front first to the ground. "AUGH!" He grunted as he belly-flopped the ground. "Urrr," he slowly rolled over before looking up at the sky, "ow." Then he noticed something, "wait a minute." He sat up and looked himself over, "not ow." He did a quick mental scan and found his body didn't hurt at all. He might not have fallen far, but he figured he'd at least have a broken nose. But no, had didn't have a single solitary scratch on him. "What is happening?" He picked himself up and looked his body over, a million thought a moment racing through his head about how he could be doing all this. Then it happened. The veins on his arms were beginning to glow blue, making Brad grasp before looking over himself. His shoulders, chest, stomach and leg veins were all glowing like his arms. And it didn't stop there. Before Brad could even comprehend this, a spark of blue lightning suddenly appeared and circled his wrist before vanishing. Then another appeared, followed by another and another as they spread up his arms and completely surrounded his body. "Stop!" He yelled, staggering back and shaking his arms to try and get the lightning to go away. Doing so caused him to trip and hit a wall, almost falling to the ground until he caught onto a drainpipe. But as soon as he had a firm grip on it, the pipe was crushed in his grasp and Brad jumped away while knocking over a trashcan. "Is someone there?" He heard a voice call into the alley, making him panic as the lightning was still surging around him. He couldn't be seen like this. He began to look for someplace to hide, but couldn't see anything. Then he remembered how he'd gotten into the alley and an idea formed in his head. So, digging deep, Brad ran towards the far wall before jumping halfway between the two. He quickly found himself flying up a good ten feet as he reached the wall, only to turn half and plant his feet onto it before thrusting out and pushing himself off. This sent him flying diagonally towards the opposite wall, where he repeated the performance. After the third jump, he found himself in arms reach of the roof and grabbed the edge before pulling himself up. It had taken less than five seconds and Brad had no idea how he did it, but he'd managed to scale a building without killing himself. He looked down at himself and saw the lightning and glowing veins were gone. But as soon as the thought entered his head, they both returned and he slowly started to think. "Maybe." He closed his eyes and focused, "switch off." He opened his eyes but the lightning was still there, so he tried again and doubled his focus. "Switch...OFF!" The crackling from the lightning vanished, Brad opening his eyes to see he was back to normal. "I did it." Another thought then entered his head, "on." The lightning returned, "off." It vanished, "on." It turned on, "off." Gone again, "on." The lightning reappeared and Brad let himself feel it. As the lightning surged around him, his body felt more pumped up than ever before. He felt like he could run a marathon and still have enough energy to keep going. He opened his eyes again and looked forward, seeing the rows of apartments standing at equal heights. "Alright." He got into a runners position as the energy returned, sparking around him until he shot off. The world's fastest runner could hit a speed of twenty-eight miles an hour. Brad wasn't that fast, but he was pretty close, a trail of lightning following him as he reached the edge and leapt off it, zipping across the gap and landing on the next roof before continuing to run. "YEAH!" He cried, racing across the roof and leaping off the other edge to land down on another roof. This kept up for several more rooftops until Brad finally landed on the final roof of the line and slid to a stop. He looked back at the roofs he'd just jumped over, unable to believe he's actually done all that, then back down at his hands to see the lightning. Now that he'd gotten used to it, his brain was starting to catch up with him and finally booted up a memory. He'd seen this lightning before, around the meteor that had exploded in his face. And just like that, everything clicked into place. The energy that had hit him had had an effect on his body, a very unbelievable effect. "I...I gotta tell someone." Micro Chips was busy burning the early morning oil. By the looks of things, he was inside some kind of garage working on something. His hands moved in a flurry as he grabbed tools, used them on whatever he was making, then put them down to grab another tool. But his works were interrupted when his phone went off. "Hello?" He was now working with one hand while the other held his phone. Given his friend had just gotten out of the hospital and his parents were out of state, hearing the anxiousness in Brad's voice put Micro on edge. "Micro, you there?" The nerd's work complete stopped as he focused on the phone call. "Brad, what's wrong? Do you need a doc-" "NO!" Micro had to pull his ear away from the phone, "I really don't want to think about seeing a doctor about this. I just...please meet me at the junkyard." "The junkyard? Why'd you wanna meet at a junkyard?" "Just...please, I'm kinda freaking out right now." The call was cut, the teen's face showing how worried this call had made him. It took an hour for Micro to reach the junkyard, peddling down the road on his bike. As he approached the junkyard, he spotted another bike coming down the opposite end. "Sandal?" He pulled himself to a stop infront of the gate as the other bike got closer, Micro realising it was his friend that was riding it. "Did Brad call you too?" "Yeah, and he sounded totally freaked out." "He sounded like that to me too. And why would he want us to meet at the junkyard?" They both turned to look up at the entryway, both thinking the same thing. "He's clearly suffering from some kind of hallucination. We should find him and get him to a doctor as soon as possible." Sandal nodded and they headed inside. Travelling through the canyons of metal, they looked around for any sign of their friend. "BRAD!" "YO, BRAD! You here little man?" There was no answer as they arrived in the middle of the yard, a circle of car towers surrounding them. "Is he even here?" "I don't know," a terrifying thought suddenly occurred to him. "What if he was on his way here but then he collapsed and is now unconscious somewhere. Oooooh, I hope there was someone there to phone an ambulance for him." But before they could get any more paranoid, something happened. The sound of clanking metal caused the two to spin around and see the top car of a stack begin to move before finally being slowly lifted straight up. And as it was, the two gasped seeing something under it. Brad stood atop the second-highest car, holding the vehicle above his head with only his brute strength while the lightning surged around his body. "Brad?" The teen opened his eyes and smiled down at them, seeing the gobsmacked looks they were both wielding. "How...how are you-" "Not sure," he grunted as he gave one more push. He straightened up his arms and held the two-ton vehicle right up without any issue. "But check this out." He lowered the car again before thrusting back upwards, the car flying out of his grip and soaring through the air. It flew over the two's head before crashing on its wheels a good ten meters away from the teen that had thrown it. "Wicked," Sandal laughed while Micro was still slack-jawed. "There's more," they turned back to Brad just in time to watch him jump straight up. Like the car, he flew right over their heads before he came crashing down atop the car. Doing so completely crushed it beneath his feet, kicking up a cloud of dust that flew up around them. "BRAD!" The two rushed over as the dust began to settle, revealing their friend jumping down off the car's remains looking completely fine. "I know," he saw there faces. "This is a lot to take in." He looked himself over, "I'm kinda freaking out over it too." "But...how?" Was still the question repeating through Micro's mind. Brad stepped over to them and held up his arms, the two seeing the lightning coming off him. "How are you doing that?" "It was the meteor?" The two looked confused, "it had the same blue energy sparking off it. When it blew, it must have done something to me. I must have absorbed the energy. It's made me stronger, faster, more durable." "Seriously?" Sandal asked. "I just lifted a two-ton car and threw it over your heads. Then I leapt over to that car and crushed it underfoot, without even breaking a toe." "Fascinating," Micro began to circle him, "so you've absorbed the energy and now it's supercharged your body." "I guess," Brad wasn't sure if that was right but it sounded so. "Incredible. This is a scientific first. Do you know what this means?" "I do," Sandal reached into his bag while Brad looked at them both in confusion. "What?" His question was met by Sandal holding a bunch of comics into his face. "YOU'VE BECOME A SUPERHERO!" They both cheered, looks of glee appearing on their faces while Brad's face became one of utter shock. He definitely had not been expecting that. "I didn't know it at the time, but that was just the start of an incredible adventure. My life would never be the same. I met many amazing people. Made many dangerous enemies and made bonds with many incredible allies. There would be good times, hard times and strange times, but I'd rise to meet the challenge. And eventually, I'd come to be known as one of the first superheroes of our world: Flash Sentry."