Day 42

[from Electron]

No more than half an hour after the call had been made, a black car arrived at the scene of Aaron's Awakening. By now, a small crowd had gathered round to behold the destruction, and one or two intrepid reporters had also arrived, only to turn back around when they learned of the nature of the incident. If this man had Awoken, then he would soon come under the protection of SHRED, meaning that revealing his identity would become a federal crime, carrying a hefty prison sentence. Not to mention the other possible consequences of revealing a hero's true name.

The car parked up a short distance from the ruined house, whose inhabitants had already been taken to hospital as a precaution, and given assurances that SHRED would pay for their temporary accommodation as well as the repairs to their house. The two totalled cars were also going to be paid for. Most Awakenings were, fortunately, not as expensive or potentially dangerous as Aaron's had been, but when they were, the infrastructure was at least in place to ensure the resulting mess could be cleaned up.

The car door opened, and out stepped a tall black man in a sharp suit. "Alright," he said, stepping forward and flashing his SHRED badge, "let's see what we got here."

He was quickly pointed in the direction of Aaron, who was sat quietly on the curb. He had gotten over his initial shock, but was still coming to terms with what had just happened. As the agent approached, Aaron looked up nervously. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"Depends on your definition of trouble," said the man, before holding up his badge again. "Martin Barnes, Superhero Regulations Department. I'll be taking you in to be processed, but first I wanna know…" He glanced over at the partially demolished house, the totalled car still lying amidst the wreckage. "The hell did that happen?"

Aaron shrugs. "Beats me," he said. "You're the superhero expert, right?"

Martin squatted down so he was face-to-face with Aaron. "Go through the whole thing from the beginning for me," he said. "It started with a near-death experience, right? What'd you do, crash your bike?"

"How did you know I-" Aaron paused, then looked down at himself, remembering he was still wearing his biker leathers. He noticed for the first time that, despite the powerful bolt of lightning he had been struck with, they were not the slightest bit melted or singed. "…right. Well, uh, not exactly."

"Whatcha mean, 'not exactly'?" asked Martin.

"Well, I was riding my bike to the store, to get some beers, and then there was this big bolt of lightning. I guess it must have hit me, and then I came off and rolled under a parked car or something. When I came round, I tried to get up, but my hand was, like… stuck to the car or something. At first I thought someone had superglued it there, for a prank, but when I tried pulling it free, my other hand got stuck as well. I kept trying to pull them free, and then… I dunno what happened. There was this big flash, and then the next thing I know, the… car's in the house…" He looked totally perplexed as he finished.

Martin casually gestured at the other car, which was now being loaded onto a tow truck. "And the other car?"

Aaron shrugged and shook his head. "I think it was about to run me over - I dunno, I was still shocked from the first thing - but then suddenly, it… I dunno, it's like it… crashed into thin air or something." He have Martin a concerned look. "Is the driver okay?"

Martin responded with a shrug of his own. "I dunno, man, I only just got here," he said. Turning his head, he called out to the driver of the tow truck. "Hey! What happened to the driver of that car?"

"Uhh, I think he got taken to hospital," said the tow truck driver. "He seemed more shocked than anything else, he'll be fine."

Martin looked back at Aaron. "There you go," he said. "Nobody got hurt. Kinda lucky, really, I mean-" He glanced back at the destroyed house and let out a low whistle, before hurriedly turning his attention back to Aaron. "I mean, not like it was your fault or anything. Awakenings are pretty much uncontrollable, nothing you coulda done about it." He took yet another look at the devastation. "Well, anyway… given the level of damage, I'd say you're easily a Tier 3, possibly Tier 4, depending on what your power actually is. Right now, I'm thinking either psychokinesis, or something to do with magnetism. We'll have to check that out back at HQ."

"So is that where you'll be taking me?" asked Aaron.

"Yep," said Martin. "Don't worry, any loved ones you have will be informed of what's happened, though you're probably not gonna see 'em again for a while. Hope you understand that." Aaron nodded. He didn't have a girlfriend, and his parents lived in another town so he didn't see them that frequently to start with. Indeed, now that he thought about it, there weren't that many people in Aventura that would notice his sudden disappearance. All the better, really, if he was going to have to conceal his identity from now on.

"Alright, let's get going, then," said Martin. He stood back up again, then starting shooing the crowd. "Alright, show's over, get outta here," he called out. "Nothing more to see here, folks, go home. Everything here's taken care of." As the crowd started to disperse, Martin gestured to Aaron. "C'mon, let's go."

Aaron followed Martin to his car, a rather new-looking Mercedes-Benz. He instinctively opened the back door, but Martin said, "You can sit in the front, y'know. You're not under arrest or anything."

"I'm not sure whether that's a good idea, considering, eh…" Aaron glanced down at his hands briefly.

Martin grinned. "I don't think your choice of seat's gonna matter much if your powers choose to go haywire again," he said. "But, if you insist…"

Martin got in the driver's seat, and Aaron settled into the back seat, buckling himself up. As the car pulled away, Aaron suddenly remembered something. "Hey, wait… what about my bike?"

"What about it?" asked Martin, adjusting the rear-view mirror.

"Do I get a new one?" he asked. "Wait, what about the rest of my stuff?"

"We'll take care of your things, don't worry," said Martin. "But as for your bike… well, let's just say you won't be needing it anymore."

"Why not?" asked Aaron.

"Let me put it to you this way," said Martin. "You ever seen a superhero ride a motorbike?"

Aaron had to pause for a moment to think about it. "No, actually," he said eventually, "I don't think I have."

"There's a good reason for that," said Martin, "the reason being they're not very safe. So if you need transportation, we'll get you a car."

Aaron didn't seem too enthusiastic about this idea until he remembered which famous hero drove a car. "You mean like a Batmobile or something?" asked Aaron. "With all the gadgets and stuff?"

"Depends," said Martin. "If you need a car like that, then yeah, sure."

"Why wouldn't I need a car like that?" asked Aaron.

"Let me put it to you this way," said Martin. "Does Superman drive a car?"

"No," conceded Aaron. "But Superman can fly, and I can't."

Martin smirked, looking right into the reflection of Aaron's eyes in the rear-view mirror. "Can'tcha?" he asked. "You know that for certain?"

Aaron shook his head. "No," he admitted. "I don't."

Martin nodded, turning his attention back to the road. "We'll see," he said. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name."

"Aaron," said Aaron. "Aaron Price."

"Nice to meet ya, Aaron," he said. "You seem like a nice guy. I'm sure you'll make a fine superhero."

"We'll see," said Aaron, a little skeptical.

"We will," said Martin, nodding.