This story is the fifth in the ongoing Super Universe series. It takes place in the year 2026, between the events of “The Making of a Hero” and “Heart in the Storm”.
~
My thirteenth birthday was the day my life changed forever.
No, I didn’t inherit a billionaire’s fortune. Nor did I learn that I was the son of an ancient sea god. No, something much more plausible happened. I got superpowers.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
My name is Leif Anderson, by the way. It’s the kind of name you get when your dad teaches high school history and your mom is obsessed with Norse mythology. Don’t get me wrong, though—they’re cool. In fact, they used to be superheroes.
Not famous heroes, mind you. Just your average friendly neighborhood heroes, fighting street crime. Dad had electricity powers—called himself Sparkplug. If you think that’s bad, Mom’s codename was worse—She-Thor, master manipulator of the weather. Their costumes were good, though—
No, Leif! Don’t go down that rabbit hole!
Anyway, you can imagine what happened next. They saved the day a few times, got married, then retired to suburbia before I was born. And they never looked back.
One other thing. My mom took one of those prenatal superpower tests, and it showed I wasn't supposed to have any. I was one of those rare cases where two superhuman parents had a child with no powers. Or at least that’s what we thought.
I was fine with that. I had no wish to be a superhero. Also, my twelfth birthday—when superhumans usually develop their powers—came and went without incident. So I thought I was safe.
So when my thirteenth birthday rolled around, I was fully unprepared for what happened.
~
I slept in that morning. Who wants to wake up early on Saturday anyway? It was almost 10 AM before I finally forced myself out of my bed, driven by the scent of pancakes and bacon wafting up to my room.
“Happy birthday!” Mom exclaimed when I walked into the kitchen, planting a wet kiss on my cheek. I let out a cry in protest and tried futilely to escape. Dad had about fried the bacon to death on the skillet until it was good and crunchy.
Just how I like it.
We all dug in eagerly. “What do you really want to do today, son?” Dad asked me. “Remember, the sky’s the limit.”
I swallowed a mouthful of bacon. “Go bowling at Paul’s—and watch Revenge of the Jedi.”
Revenge is my favorite Star Wars movie. And I don’t care what the critics say—you can’t have too many Death Stars.
Mom almost spit out her coffee. “Revenge of the Jedi? But it’s sooo corny!”
Dad and I looked at each other and grinned. We’d been having this argument with Mom for years.
“It could be worse, Mom,” I said. “In the original script, the Galactic Empire would have been defeated by small, fuzzy bears!”
“And they almost made Leia Luke’s sister instead of Nellith,” Dad interjected. “That kiss scene in The Empire Strikes Back would have been so gross.”
I gagged, but Mom laughed. “Well, at least it doesn’t have Jar-Jar Binks. I suppose I can tolerate it.”
Dad groaned at the mention of Jar-Jar, but I didn’t echo his sentiments. Maybe it’s a controversial opinion, but I don’t think he’s the worst character in the franchise. Now Anakin on the other hand? That’s another story.
Just then, the doorbell rang. I looked at my dad, who didn’t look surprised but got up and went to answer it.
Mom smiled. “By the way, we invited someone over. Just a little birthday surprise.”
Dad came back with a kid, and I felt my eyes pop when I recognized him. “Hey! When did you get here?”
I hadn’t seen Aaron Hale—my best friend for almost ten years—since he started going to some swanky superhero school with his big sister. He grinned as we traded high-fives.
“Just this morning,” he said. “Couldn’t let you beat my high score without a fight, Leaves.”
This was going to be the best birthday ever.
~
After finishing our leisurely breakfast, we all piled into the family minivan for a trip to Paul’s Pin Place, the best bowling alley in Hammitt Cove, Florida. Okay, so it’s the only bowling alley in Hammitt Cove. Who wants to go bowling when you’ve got the beach in your backyard? Still, it’s one of the coolest places in town, and they’ve got an arcade where I can play Galaga.
Aaron filled me in on everything he’d been doing for the last two months. “My workload this semester is killing me, but Ari promises it gets better after your first year. Training’s fun, though—I can blow things up without being grounded for life.”
Aaron’s power was to turn objects into explosives by supercharging them with some kind of energy. He’d tried to explain the science behind it, but I’d forgotten it all in two minutes.
“Also, I get to live in a house with real superheroes.”
“Really?”
“Iron Samson and Melodia. They’re pretty cool. Oh, and the school’s talking about putting together teams of junior heroes to help with small emergencies. Like cleaning up after hurricanes or searching for lost kids.” His eyes sparkled. “You know, there was this time . . .”
I tried to mirror his excitement. Just a few months, and it was painfully clear that my best friend and I lived in different worlds. All I wanted was to be an astronaut—or a Jedi knight. Whichever was cooler. He was going to be a superhero, with superhero friends who could fly, deflect bullets with their hands, and crush rocks with a whisper.
How could I compete with that?
“Do you have a codename yet?” I asked.
He flashed a Han Solo grin. “Say hello to Ignyte.”
I rolled my eyes. “How original.”
“It’s short, catchy, and matches my power set. Honestly, it wasn’t hard to come up with. But it’s not easy for everyone. Why, this one kid—” Aaron’s jaw dropped. “What in the . . .”
The van screeched to a halt. I looked ahead and saw cars had stopped, blocking traffic both ways. Their drivers had gotten out to stare at a black jet airplane in the middle of the street. A jet with a familiar logo of bold, red letters—CA.
“The Champions of America,” Aaron mouthed.
Mom paled, and Dad gripped the steering wheel. “We’d better get out of here,” he said.
Of course, because everyone knows the country’s best superhero team just shows up regularly in a random backwater town to fight the villain of the week. (That was sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell.)
Dad shifted into reverse and began backing up, but a large shadow zoomed over us with a scream as he did. I saw the blue thirty-foot colossus slam into the pavement just behind us. His arms flailed as chunks of asphalt flew into the air, leaving a pothole the size of a swimming pool in the road.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but I screamed like a two-year-old.
“Jotun,” Mom hissed.
Frost giant—a creature of Viking lore, supposedly among the oldest beings in existence. They were also evil incarnate.
And we were trapped by one.
My parents jumped into action. They leaped out of the car, while Aaron and I followed suit. Dad’s eyes flashed with white light as his powers crackled at his fingertips.
“Megan, get the boys to safety. The bowling alley has a storm shelter.” He disappeared in a flash of light and sparks, teleporting into the battle.
“We can fight this thing!” Aaron protested, holding up his hands.
Was he insane? Thankfully, Mom ignored him. With one arm around each of us, she took to the sky on a powerful gust of wind. I looked back and saw Dad running to help the Champions who had cornered the Frost Giant.
No, Dad! I thought. Come back! Let the heroes fight Grover the rage monster!
Helios was there in his golden cape, bombarding the monster with solar blasts. Freeze Rae swooped in and froze its feet to the ground with her ice jets. I saw Dad hurl a lightning bolt at its head, as the Athenian and Black Cowl rushed to help—
Then a swirling mass opened, and two more giants stepped out, shrieking while they batted away the heroes like piñatas. One of them struck Helios, sending him careening towards us. Mom yelped and tried to dive out of his way, but it was too late.
Her arm released me as Helios slammed into her. Next thing I knew, the ground rose up to greet me with a thud. Then darkness.
“People of Midgard!”
Mom? I opened my eyes. A hint of blurriness tinted everything, but I could see angry storm clouds rolling in, blotting out the sun. I squinted through my screaming headache and wondered how long I’d been out.
“People of Midgard!”
The voice came from my left. I forced my stiff neck to turn and saw a bearded man with blue hair standing between the frost giants and the portal. To my addled brain, he looked like a cross between a Viking cosplayer and a guy at a rave, with leather armor bulging out at his midsection.
He looked ridiculous. The frost giants not so much.
The man raised a megaphone to his lips. “I am Heimdall, gatekeeper of the gods! Your Champions of America are vanquished! Yield to my demands, or I shall unleash the scourge of Jotunheim upon your world!”
Terrific, a supervillain. I wondered if he’d gotten lost on his way to New York City or something. Whatever he was, he was likely not the legendary guardian of the Bifrost.
The frost giants exchanged glances with each other. The tallest one shook his head and chuffed like a bear.
Heimdall continued to shout his demands, but I only caught every other sentence. “And lastly, the U.S. Congress must sign a bill into law forbidding the slaughter and consumption of beef . . .”
The tall frost giant suddenly reached and snatched him up in his hand. Growling, he hurled the would-be supervillain back into his own portal. Heimdall vanished with a scream, and his swirling hole shrank and disappeared.
Okay . . . so that happened.
The giants turned their attention back towards the frightened people below and smirked, their white beards blowing in the wind.
Wind . . . wait, what happened to Mom? And Aaron? My pulse quickened, and I forced myself up on my hands and frantically looked around. The blurriness was still in the way, but after a few seconds I spotted them a few yards from me in the grass. They weren’t moving.
My insides went rigid. Something crackled inside me, and right then the sky grew darker as if it could sense my fear.
That’s when the dam broke.
I gritted my teeth, and that weird crackling sensation began rising, increasing with intensity. The giants stooped and picked up more cars to throw at us. Bit by bit, the crackling grew stronger until I could feel pure electricity coursing through my veins.
I didn’t feel myself levitating, though. I didn’t see myself glow up like a Jedi light saber. All I could see were the giants and their cruel sneers, and I hated it. I wanted to punch their frosty faces.
And then I did.
The wish barely crossed my mind when there was a flash of light, and I was facing the tallest giant. His eyes met mine, and without a second thought I threw a punch straight for the bridge of his nose. The world exploded into sparks, and the giant staggered back with a loud cry. “RRRAAARRRRRRR!!!”
I darted forward, throwing another punch. Lightning shot down from the sky, connecting with my fist as it struck the giant. Another explosion, and this time the monster’s red eyes rolled back as it fell. THUD. Another giant pothole.
The smaller giants screeched and raised their hands to smash me. But then the wind picked up, and rain fell from the sky in sheets. Bolt after bolt of lightning struck the ground all around us. As the giants struggled to stay on their feet, the light bulb finally clicked in my head.
I’m the one doing this. I’m controlling the storm!
“GRRR!!!” The giants struggled to reach me. I had an idea and simply pointed at them. Wind swirled faster and faster around me in a vortex, sucking the giants into its flow. They yelped in surprise as they flew upwards, then fell faces-first to the ground. They groaned and lay still.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to process everything that had happened. But what exactly had happened? Why did I have superpowers? I wasn’t supposed to have superpowers. Where had they come from?
Then a more pressing thought occurred to me. So, how do I turn them off?
I blinked and realized that the tornado I had made was still going. The rain persisted, with the occasional lightning flash brightening the gloom. I held my hands to my face—and they were glowing.
I was glowing.
“What is THAT?” someone shouted.
I had to turn this off fast. Closing my eyes, I tried to will the tornado to dissipate.
Instead, it got stronger.
“What monster did Heimdall send this time?” Fear tinged the woman’s voice.
Panic gripped me—this was now a matter of life or death. Surely some reverse psychology would do the trick. I tried reaching out to the storm again.
Get stronger, I thought.
And it did—people shrieked as they were thrown off balance, as the storm I brought forth nearly reached category one hurricane force. Honestly, I don’t know what I expected.
“It’s going to destroy the town!” Was that Freeze Rae or the Athenian? I wasn’t sure. But then I heard words that chilled me.
“Take it down, team!”
No! This wasn’t supposed to happen. Vainly I tried to connect with the storm, but I couldn’t think of what to do. Mom made weather control look so easy. Had something like this happened to her before?
A streak of white-gold in my periphery grabbed my focus. I tensed as Helios barreled towards me like a car with no brakes, fists outstretched. I threw up my arms in self-defense—
Flash.
I watched from behind as the superhero tumbled into a putt-putt course. My teleportation had kicked in just in time. Also, while the storm raged on, my tornado was dissipating now that I wasn’t inside it. And I was standing on my feet again. That was something, at least. There had to be a way to turn these powers off—
“Alale!!!” I barely dodged as the Athenian lunged for me with her shield. She whipped around and eyed me like a lioness, then lunged again.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
I teleported away from her attacks, but she just kept on coming. This was so wrong. I never wanted powers, and now I was fighting the Champions of America? This was so wrong!
“Cowl! Spectress!” she shouted. “I could really use some help!”
“Stop!” I threw up my hands again as the Athenian lunged, but this time lightning shot out. It struck the shield and threw her back several feet. She rolled and jumped up in a defensive crouch, glaring at me.
The other heroes rushed to her side—Freeze Rae, Black Cowl, Helios, Silver Spectress, the Bends, Bigfoot, even Iron Titan. I cowered and blacked away slowly, but they edged closer. This was wrong, so very wrong . . .
“Stop! Don’t touch him!”
I stopped still. That voice—I knew that voice.
“Please stay back, sir,” the Athenian said briskly. “This is a very delicate situation.”
“He’s our son!” A woman’s voice shouted back. “He’s not a monster!”
Mom? Dad? I looked behind the heroes, and I could see them—battered and bruised, but very much alive. My pulse went down slightly.
Just slightly.
“Be that as it may,” the Athenian said, “we need to . . .”
“Let us talk to him,” Dad said, cutting her off. “We can help.”
The Champions exchanged worried glances, and the Athenian didn’t look like she wanted to say yes. But after a few seconds she sighed and nodded slowly. “Please stay behind us. We have no idea what he can do.”
My parents nodded and rushed forward, stopping just behind Helios. I looked past them and saw Aaron nearby, peeking out from behind an overturned car. He looked very concerned.
“Leif, honey?” Mom’s words were gentle and authoritative. “Tell us what’s happening.”
I could have cried. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I can’t—I can’t turn them off.”
“Leif, listen to me carefully.” Dad spoke clearly and calmly. “Your emotions are affecting your powers—that's why you don’t have control. You need to rein them in—”
“I don’t know how!” I wailed, and a strong gust of wind nearly bowled us all over. The superheroes tensed, but my parents stood firm.
“You don’t have to be afraid, son,” Dad said. “We’re not going anywhere—not until you’re alright.”
“Dad? Mom?” My hands shook. Raw energy coursed through my body as though I were a car battery. “How do I turn them off? What should I do?”
Dad smiled. He disappeared in a flash, teleporting to my side. I saw the Champions flinch, but Dad reached out and pulled me into a strong bear hug, his powers still active.
“You don’t have to do anything,” he said. “Just hold on to me.”
Confused but desperate, I hugged him back. Thunder crashed overhead and I trembled. But my dad just held me tighter.
“You’re safe, Leif,” he said quietly. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re not going anywhere.”
Something changed inside. Whatever energy was inside me began to die down, as the pent-up fear and tension released. I took shallow breaths, one after another. My hands stopped glowing, as did the rest of my body.
As I hugged him, I barely noticed as the rain slowed to a stop, and the dark clouds rolled back to reveal the sun. Mom ran forward and joined us, sandwiching me between them. I didn’t mind, and I hardly noticed when the heroes put a power dampening bracelet on my wrist.
I was safe.
~
The rest of the day felt like a blur after the Champions rushed us all to an SEA hospital in Tampa. They never told us what became of the frost giants—I'm assuming they were either sent home or to wherever the government sends strange creatures from other dimensions.
The doctor concluded that the superpower test Mom took must have been faulty. (Well, duh.) He seemed especially fascinated by my powers—electrokinesis, weather control, not to mention Basic powers like enhanced strength and healing.
“Leif could be one of the first Level III superhumans we’ve seen in a decade,” I overheard him saying to my parents. “He’s a Level II at the very least.”
I really didn’t care. It was still my birthday, and I still wanted to watch Revenge of the Jedi. Thankfully, my room had a flat-screen TV with access to GreatFlix. Mom and Dad sat by my bed while we put the film on. Aaron was there too. He'd come with us since he had nowhere else to go.
“You could join me and Ari at the Academy, Leaves,” he said as Luke fought Jabba’s henchmen on Tatooine. “It’s a cool place, and you’d really like Ryan, Brady, and Kess . . .”
“Shh,” I said. “You’re missing the story.”
He shrugged and turned his attention back to the film. I gently rubbed the humming wristband which still held my powers in check, surprised that it didn’t chafe me. It wouldn’t be a permanent solution—I'd have to figure out how to control these powers eventually. But at least I wouldn’t have to figure them out on my own.
I drifted off to sleep long before the two Death Stars blew up, unsure about the future, but unafraid.