Seven Steps to Becoming a Superhero

Twelve hours, anxiety consumed Zack over his impending meeting with Dirk Saber. He expected campus security or perhaps even costumed heroes to escort him off the premises, if not into jail altogether.

Now, five minutes after he left the meeting, he would have much preferred jail to this.

He couldn’t have superpowers.

Maybe it was a ploy. Maybe Dirk Saber knew Zack was onto him, so he cobbled together this bogus blood test to knock him off-balance.

The problem was, if that was the case, it was definitely working.

MIllions of tiny unanswered questions rang throughout Zack’s mind. If it was true, had his dad known? And if his dad had known, why hadn’t he told him? How could he have let him go through life without knowing he had superpowers?

His entire high school career as a quarterback, and on top of it, all of his time as a sidekick.

Was it all a lie?

Zack had listened to his father time and time again remark about how he was handed nothing in this life. Everything he had in this world he had earned through blood, sweat and tears. Zane Kelster was the master of his own destiny, and Zack wanted nothing more than anything to be like him.

Was that even possible now?

Everything he accomplished in his life had come from some genetic quirk. And what of his mother’s role in all of this? Is that where he got his powers from? Who was she?

As Zack tore through the Promenade at frightening speed, he moved past several college students, some of whom leapt out of the way. His face had turned into a sneer as he tried to comprehend this information. Was it all a ploy?

Or did he truly have powers?

There was one way to find out. Zack knew exactly who to ask.

He moved to the dorms. He knocked on the door. Fortunately, the access he’s gotten from Weave included a directory for the dorm numbers of all the students.

Perry Adams had microscopic vision. He could confirm if he indeed had superpowers. In high school, he was already beholding the genetic structures of lab mice. Confirming his superpowers should be cake.

The door opened, revealing someone who was decidedly not Perry. Instead, Blake’s long blonde hair tumbled down to her shoulders. She wore a white sleeveless shirt and workout pants. Her expression was neutral when she saw him, which Zack decided was probably an improvement.

“Is Perry around?” he asked.

Blake regarded him for a second or two, and then held the door wide open.

“He had class, but he should be back any minute,” Blake said. “He’s most likely driving the professor crazy with some weird hypothesis.”

“Sounds like Perry,” he said as he entered the dorm.

“Make yourself at home,” Blake said. Perry’s dorm was small, with books cluttered everywhere. Most of them were textbooks, but Perry was surprised to see a lot of fiction books - mostly on the subject of superheroes - scattered throughout the place.

As near as Zack could tell, Perry’s dorm was a single, which was in pretty high demand. Zack didn’t try to flex his dad’s name to land a single - he figured that would put too much attention on him. Somehow, by virtue of his personality or his academic performance, Perry had landed on just fine.

It was still small, even for a dorm, but Perry clearly didn’t need much space. He only needed space for books, a bed and a small mini-fridge. A laptop plugged into the nearby wall. Zack didn’t even see any signs of a TV.

Blake was reading on an equally tiny kitchen table. Her left hand contained a smartphone, which unsurprisingly consumed most of her attention. Zack studied the blonde girl, completely transfixed by the phone in her hand. Zack didn’t want to be rude.

Then again, maybe rudeness was his best bet. Perry was his friend, but he could be helplessly naive sometimes. He didn’t want to see Perry get hurt.

“What’s your deal?” Zack asked.

“Excuse me?” Blake said without looking up from her phone.

“Why are you with Perry?” he asked.

This time she did look up.

“Do you even have to ask? I thought you were friends,” she said, taken back. “He’s brilliant, kind and you should see the things he can do in-”

“That’s not what I meant,” Zack said, blushing. “I mean, he’s clearly out of your league.”

Blake went back to her phone. “Well, on that part at least, we agree.”

Uncomfortable silence lay over the dorm for several minutes. Zack had clearly pushed some buttons, but he hadn’t gone far enough. Not yet.

“I just don’t want Perry to get hurt,” he said.

Zack knew he had gone too far.

When Blake met his eyes, her blue eyes were as clear as a swimming pool. Seconds later, a blast of sparks erupted from her phone.

“Dammit!” she said, tossing her smoldering smartphone away in her frustration. She locked eyes with Zack.

“Hurt him?” she said. “I’m not the one who hurt him.”

She stood up from her seat. “I may have been a mess. I had these powers I still can’t use without frying any electronics within a ten feet radius. I was a freakshow.”

Blake’s glare only intensified. “But that was nothing compared to Perry. He was a wreck. He wouldn’t talk to anyone. He would barely eat. He was a no-show in most of his classes.”

Blake drew closer to Zack, who squirmed in his seat uncomfortably.

“All because you left him. You were his best friend and you left him, without one word. He seriously thought you were dead or worse,” Blake said. “But then you weren’t dead, were you? And that made it all the worse, but how little can you mean from someone’s life if you just up and vanish like that.”

“That’s not…it was complicated,” Zack said.

“Don’t give me your excuses. I don’t care for you. I care about Perry. And don’t judge me,” Blake said. Her eyes returned to their normal blue. “Not when you’re clearly are in no position to do so.”

The door opened, and an exasperated Perry entered, noting its two occupants.

“Oh good, you’re here, Zack,” Perry said. “And you’re just hanging out with my girlfriend…that’s cool…nothing weird about that at all.”

Zack couldn’t tell if Perry actually thought it was good, and was just trying to make conversation. Perry noted the now-smoking phone on the couch.

“Oh, Blake, not again,” Perry said.

“I have to go,” Blake said.

She kissed Perry on the girlfriend, before giving Zack a cold side-eye before grabbing her jacket and leaving the dorm altogether.

“She seems . . . nice,” Zack said, trying to salvage the afternoon.

“Yeah, she is,” Perry said, before turning to him. “What’s up?”

“Perry…I have to ask you a weird question, and I just need your honest assessment,” Zack said.

Perry gave him a questioning look. “...okay.”

“Do I have superpowers?” Zack asked.

Perry searched his face for a while and then spoke.

“Well, obviously,” Perry said. “Some sort of enhanced muscular recall.”

Zack didn’t know it was the answer he wanted to hear or not, but it was an answer nonetheless.

“You didn’t know?” Perry asked.

Zack didn’t react.

“Thanks. I just…needed a second opinion,” Zack said. “I should go.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Perry said and Zack stopped before he left.

“Yeah. I just…Dad never mentioned it,” Zack said.

“Your powers?” Perry looked confused. “I mean, you were a superhero. I just figured…you knew you had them.”

“No, I didn’t,” Zack said. “I always thought I just had raw, natural talent.”

Perry pondered this.

“I mean, you still do. It’s just a different kind of raw and natural,” Perry replied. Zack shrugged.

“I guess,” Zack said.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Perry said.

No, Zack thought. But that’s not really a problem.

Because I haven’t been okay in a long time.

“I should go,” Zack said, but then stopped.

He remembered the Knightbrand armor, damaged from Icer’s foolhardy attack, still sitting somewhere in his apartment.

“I need your help on something else,” Zack said. “It’s at my apartment.”

Perry looked a bit guilty. “I wish I could, but I have class in thirty minutes, and then Blake and I have plans.”

Zack nodded. “It’s cool. Another time.”

He started to leave, but Perry reached for him.

“It was good to see you, man.”

Zack stopped. He thought about this for longer than he should and then he gave a weak smile.

“You too. Blake is awesome. You’re lucky man,” Zack said.

“She scares me sometimes,” Perry said with a funny laugh, the same kind he did in high school. Zack chuckled.

Zack left the dorm and walked back into the Promenade. He felt his hairs stand on end the moment he entered the Promenade. He wasn’t cold, so he knew it wasn’t from Icer, but something seemed off.

He turned down a nearby alley between two nearby buildings. He figured he could at least fight his pursuers off head-on.

That’s when something dark fell over his face and everything went black.