As I stepped into the High-School I wondered how the laws of the world had changed within the last ten years. First the heroes left, then the army took over, then the police force let the power go to their head and this resulted in a police state. I’m sure that I could have done something if I had tried. But then again what was the point? Would it have made a difference? Could one man change anything? I constantly plagued myself with these questions. I lifted the morning paper to read what the headlines were. I nearly spat the coffee in my mouth out in shock as I read the headline:
“Heroes Return”
It depicted how that there have been sighting of vigilantes in the last two days. Vigilantes that seemed to resemble the Nightmare and the Red Queen were seen saving some children from a burning building. As I read the report I thought about the old days. Being a hero wasn’t easy but we had a good system. Every time a villain committed crimes too serious to just be considered crazy or to be put to death, they were put in cryogenic suspension. To this day many of the villains we put away are still frozen and hopefully it will stay that way. I stopped reading my paper as my students slowly came into class, talking amongst themselves about who is dating who, who made the team, who lost weight, all the typical teenage crap. I sighed and started the lecture.
I was overcome with the smell of coffee as I stepped into the staff room. Most of the teachers were sitting down either eating or talking about whatever the day’s topic was. Sometimes it was the students and other times what was happening in their own lives. I found that the topic of the day was the Vigilantes return and how they made the authorities look like idiots. This description brought a smile to my face as for a split second I thought of what would it be like to go back to being a hero. That moment quickly passed as Ms. Simmons, the school principle, came over to me. Ms. Simmons and I had been close for some years before my accident and as of late have rekindled our old acquaintance. She was an attractive woman for her age but did not allow her body to hold any authority when it came to her cold, serous and strong willed image.
“Mr. Rosenberg. I wanted to ask you something. Do you have any free time this evening to have a discussion with me?” She said as I felt like there was a fist in my throat.
“Um. Yes Ms. Simmons I do have some free time. May I ask what this initials?” I tried to hold back my nervous feelings as I talked.
“Good. I’d like to see you in my office after school if that suits you fine.” She said without any hesitation in her voice. This could mean anything from your fired to we found a better teacher.
“That is fine” I said as she slowly walked away leaving me with a look of confusion and fear on my face.
I waited outside the office of my employer as she stepped out with a suitcase. She had her hair down which was a seldom act for her. She preferred to look as professional as possible when she was working but was a little too casual when it came to her life outside school.
“Are you free Friday night Lawrence?” Melinda said in a more cheerful voice.
“I prefer Scott you know that Mel” I said looking at my boss and friend.
“And yes I am. Why?” I said feeling my stomach twist in ways id never be able to do with my powers.
Blushing she said “I’ve been thinking. Would you have dinner with me?”
“Like a date?” I said sounding like one of my students.
“Kinda” she said smiling at me.
“I’d love to. How’s Lorenzo’s sound?” I said becoming more confident in my appearance.
“Amazing. Pick me up at nine. You know where I live don’t you?” she said as I nodded to agree with her.
With that said we went our separate ways and I felt like I could do anything in the world.
On the drive home I thought of how it seemed like everything in my world was going right. There was nothing that could go wrong today that would ruin it for me. I pulled up to my apartment complex and saw that none was at the front desk. I didn’t pass much thought about it and just walked to the elevator to my room. There was a cold wind in the air. It made my skin stiffen, the only down side to having a body that’s able to expand like plastic is you stiffen up around winter. Smiling I stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway. Somehow it had gotten colder as I got closer to my room. When I opened the door it was as if the skin on my back was as thick as bark. I looked around and heard movement in the room. Someone was here in the room. I stretched my eyes out of my head and searched around the room. All of a sudden one of my eyes was stepped on by a big foot. I screamed in agony as I felt the pain surge through my body. Had my body not been elastic one of my eyes might have been punctured liked a water balloon.
“Well looky here what I found.” A voice said from the other room
A huge man with a tank on his back walked towards me from the room where he must have stepped on my eye. I screamed further as my eye retracted into my skull.
“So you’re Mr. Stretch. Gotta say it’s an honour to be killing ya. See I’m ya number one fan.” He said as sprayed me with the tanks contents.
My body was overcome with cold and became as stiff as wood. He punched me across the room and laughed as I hit the ground. I couldn’t move. This was perhaps the most terrifying moment of my lift. Taking the tank off, he stepped closer to me and wrapped his hands around my neck.
“I’m going to snap ya like a toothpick” He said in a deadpan sort of way.
As I felt his grip tighten I suddenly felt a warm sensation run up my body. His body was giving off heat, minor heat but enough for me to move. I lifted my hand and threw a punch. It didn’t do much to him but it did give me just enough room to let me knock him to the ground with a swift kick in the jewels. I found that he was using a liquid nitrogen spray to freeze the room. I quickly threw it out the window as he recuperated and got to his feet. He got up and charged towards me once again. He threw me down the hall with great force. Despite his intimidating stature he wasn’t very strong or smart and as a result only managed to land me two doors down. This was his biggest mistake, and my advantage. As I landed down the hall my body began to warm up. It was nowhere near as cold here as it was in my apartment. I stretched my arms out and punched him across the face. He didn’t know what hit him, until it hit him again and again.
“Well here since you’re my biggest fan. Let’s see if u knows what I’m going to do now.” Spinning him around in a circle I threw him at the wall.
I stretched my arms over to him and begin to wrap him around in my arms. I squeezed his body tighter and tighter as my fists punched him repeatedly across his face. Then with all my strength I catapulted him into one of my neighbour’s rooms. As I walked over to him he began to laugh as his mouth began foaming. He had poisoned himself. What made this much more troubling was that not only did he know who I was, but Nightmare was right. Unlocking my safe I took out my suit and went to meet my former comrades.
