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He had no idea how it happened. He knew the course of events that led up to the accident. He remembered the accident itself, but knew no physical or scientific reasons of how it had changed him…how it had made him capable of doing the things he could do. The inner power he now possessed the energy he could feel within him. He was still human, but something definitely had changed. But we’ll get into that later. There had been a huge storm brewing that night. He and his mom were eating dinner watching the 6 o’clock news, when the weatherman came on warning all folks in the Roswell area to stay inside and have flashlights or candles handy. The high and low-pressure systems battling it out in the atmosphere were almost guaranteed to cause problems with the electricity. Sure enough, about ten minutes later all the lights in the Whitman home began to flicker before blinking out completely.

“Great,” his mother sighed. “Just great.”

His dad was out of town as per usual, but Alex knew enough about electronics to go outside and mess around with the switch box. His mom went to the hall closet to search for flashlights, while Alex put on a raincoat and headed outside, much to her protest. Stepping through the sliding glass door he could immediately feel the strange energy flowing through the air. It was enough to make him want to turn back inside. It wasn’t raining yet, so he ignored the weird vibes that seemed to be flowing through the atmosphere, and went to work on getting the power back. One look at the sky at Alex knew that the weatherman wasn’t joking around when he said, “be careful out there tonight.” The clouds looked…well they looked angry. Angry and menacing, waiting for the perfect moment to smite their wrath down on the population. It was sign number two that he had no business being outside. But a few moments of freaky deaky cloud watching was not about to force him back into the house. His mother had always been afraid of lightning, but it was always ten times worse when the lights were out. His dad had complained of bruises she left on his arm the last time a thunderstorm passed through town. Alex did not want to have to sit through the night the night comforting his terrified mother while she slowly squeezed all the feeling from his appendages.

A light drizzle fell onto his shoulders by the time he finally reached the switch box. He fiddled with the switches and wires for a few minutes when a giant bolt of electricity streaked across the sky. Sign number three he shouldn’t be out here. The second he was about to turn on his heels and head back inside, he heard his mother’s cowardly shriek at the thunder that had just rumbled overhead. It filled him with the determination to get lights working. No possible way he could endure that all night. The lights and TV would provide satisfactory distraction for her. It always had before. Another flash of lightning hit the sky and Alex didn’t even count to one before the thunder followed. It was close, too close for comfort. He glanced nervously at the lightning rod his dad placed on the roof. His mom had always found the thing ugly. “Makes the house look silly,” she would say. Alex had about half a second to agree with her when the crooked arm of thousands of watts of electricity struck the rod. The other half second he had was to realize that his dad for some reason had hooked up the cable connected to the rod, right next to the switchbox. Right where his hand was steadying him against the house. A brilliant flash blinded him as he felt his body rock under the force. He didn’t remember doing the flying leap across his backyard, or crashing through the fence nearly twenty feet away on the other side. He didn’t remember the pain or the smell of singed skin as smoke rose from his twitching form. All he could remember was hearing his mom shout his name and the feel of hail sting his cheeks as his vision turned black and consciousness was lost.

*** Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound of a heat monitor rang in his ears as he woke up in the hospital three days later. It was midnight; no one was there to see him regain his senses. He felt gauze bandages wrapped around his arms covering them completely. At first he started to panic, he didn’t know where he was, or why it hurt so much to move his arms. He tried to say something but found a breathing tube lodged in his throat. The gagging commenced the second he realized it was there, and proceeded to choke until it was so loud a nurse ran into the room to see what the commotion was about. She ran right up to Alex and removed the tube.

“Feeling better?” the nurse asked.

Alex sucked in a breath and tried to respond but what came out of his throat was a strangled moan.

“I guess not,” the nurse said. “Your parents will be very happy you’re out of it, you had us very worried there Mr. Whitman.”

Alex could only nod in response while the nurse filed out of the room. For some reason he felt really jumpy. Like he could hop out of the bed and run a few miles. He could feel it in his body, running through his nervous system, pumping through his veins. He kind of wanted to know what ‘it’ was. There was something inside wanting to get out, it felt like some kind of energy…a lot of energy. He didn’t know what was going to happen if he didn’t do something with it. Just then his mom and dad came storming into the room.

“Alex!” his mother cried. “You had me so worried!”

He still couldn’t respond, but a faint smile caused her to calm a little. Alex was surprised to find his dad here, funny how it took a bolt of lightning to get him to come home.

“You all right son?” he dad asked. “Gave us quite a scare there.”

Alex tried to move again, but winced and grunted at the pain it brought.

“Why can’t I move?” he choked out.

“You were hit by lightning son,” Mr. Whitman said. “Your arms got burned up pretty badly.”

“I…what?” It all came back to him. Being outside fiddling with the switch box, ignoring all the clues that he should have been inside the house. Seeing the lightning strike but still standing his ground. The one bolt that…that. Well he knew what happened. He wouldn’t be inside a hospital if it didn’t hit him.

‘Oh man, just when my life couldn’t get any weirder’, Alex thought.

“How long have I been out?” he asked.

“Three days,” his mother replied. “We thought that…that you might not…” She broke into tears and Alex watched as his dad put his arms on her shoulders in comfort.

“The doctors said it didn’t look too good,” his dad filled in.

“Well I feel just fine,” Alex said, only to be met with several ‘who’s he trying to kid’ looks from the adults. But he really did feel ok. Hell, besides the burns that temporarily took over his arms, he had never felt so alive. He could still feel the energy inside…it was building up every second he lay still. He had to do something about it, but there was no way he could when his parents were here.

“I’m actually still kind of tired,” he lied. “I think I’m going to go back to sleep now.”

“Are you sure?” his mother asked.

“Yeah,” Alex replied. “I feel kind of burnt.” His mother and father’s wide-eyed looks caused him to rephrase his words. “Um, no pun intended,” He mumbled.

“Alright,” his mom said. “We’ll be here the second you wake up.” She went to touch his hand but jumped back as if she were shocked. She gave him a weary smile, “Must be a bit of static in the air,” she said.

“Must be,” Alex agreed. “Night you guys.”

“Goodnight son,” his dad said.

They walked out of the room leaving Alex to himself. He tried to go back to sleep, but he’d been out what… three days? He wouldn’t be tired for hours, maybe even a whole day. He didn’t have a roommate so it was kind of peaceful in here. Well, as peaceful as it could get with that damn heart monitor ringing in his ears. He tried to ignore it, but the more he attempted to block it out the louder it seemed to get. Alex was really starting to get annoyed with the beeping. He squeezed his eyes shut as his hands clawed at the sheets.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

He could feel it building stronger and stronger. The more annoyed he got with the noise, the more the energy inside grew. His heartbeat faster, his hands twitched slightly, nerves were getting jumpier. Whatever it was growing inside was churning at a rapid rate.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

‘I wish that damn thing would just explode!’ he thought angrily.

The second the thought finished, he felt the energy release itself, and the heart monitor irrupted into a shower of sparks fizzing and cracking before falling over onto the floor, smoke rising from the melted plastic residue.

“No way,” he said aloud, looking at the now toasted monitor lying on the floor. “No way did that just happen.”

*** He didn’t sleep very well that night. The reality of being struck by lightning began to sink in, and after causing a piece of hospital equipment to explode with a mere thought well, one tends to not drift off to dreamy dream land quite so easily. The energy was still there swirling and flowing throughout his body; he began to wonder if it would ever go away. His parents were there the second he woke up just like they said. Alex was a bit surprised his dad was still around. It’s not like they were on bad terms, to be realistic they weren’t on any terms at all exactly. Hell, Alex had seen him maybe two or three times since he dragged him on the camping trip a few months ago. He really had expected his dad to see he was alive, run back to his car and get to work. It wasn’t like Alex wasn’t glad to see him; it was just…odd. His mom fussed and hugged, and shed more tears over him the way mothers usually do when they have a child in the hospital. His dad stayed most of the day, but at one o’clock he was called off for ‘something that had to get done.’ Alex didn’t mind he was used to it by now. The day went by excruciatingly slow. He had a cardboard breakfast and lunch, while his mom watched some lame soap operas on the TV. He wanted her to leave just for a few minutes; he had the biggest urge to play with the energy again. It was like getting a Christmas present early but you still couldn’t play with it.

A nurse came in to change his bandages and he finally got a good look at his arms. Undercooked meat was as close as he could identify how they looked. It wasn’t pretty. The nurse guaranteed that they would heal in due time and his parents already set-up skin graft appointments when they did. His mom had finally gotten hungry and wandered down to the cafeteria to get some food. He experimented a little, trying not to cause things to explode. He turned the TV off and on without the remote, shifted the hospital bed without using the buttons. He found he could control the objects with nothing more than a mere thought. He pinched himself several times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, and every time he still found himself wide-awake. He thought it very strange that no one mentioned the half-burnt half-exploded corpse of the heart monitor, it wasn’t even on the floor anymore when he woke up. He wasn’t going to ask about it though, he wasn’t that stupid.

At three o’clock Max, Michael, Liz, Maria, and Isabel all came to check up on him. Liz, Maria, and Isabel all charged toward the bed the second they noticed he was up.

“You’re alive!” Liz and Maria shouted.

They both threw their arms around him and flinched when they both got shocked.

“Is this blanket wool or something?” Liz asked.

“Must be,” Maria nodded.

Both of them hugged Alex and kissed his cheeks.

“We’re so glad you’re okay,” Liz said rising from the bed.

“Yeah,” Maria agreed. “What were you doing outside in that crazy weather anyway?”

“I uh…” Alex didn’t finish his sentence as he watched Isabel slowly step closer to him. The relief he saw in her eyes made him feel loved.

“Hey Izzy,” he said with a smile. “Come to see your extra crispy boyfriend?”

“Shut up,” she said softly, her lip trembling and eyes shimmering with tears. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry,” he said reaching for her hand. “I didn’t mean to.”

Isabel crawled onto the bed, threw her arms his waist and buried her head in his shoulder.

“You had me so scared,” she repeated quietly, squeezing him tighter. “Don’t you ever do that again,” she said kissing him lightly. “Or I’ll zap you worse than any lightning.”

“Deal,” he said smiling at her.

She continued to lay on the bed with him as Max walked up and shook his hand.

“Good to see you alive and kicking,” he said.

“Yeah,” Michael continued. “Don’t know what we would do without digital boy.”

Alex smirked at the wonky nickname Michael had given him while they were spying on Tess. Funny how it seemed to have a different meaning now. He wasn’t going to tell them about his new found talents, not yet anyway. He couldn’t begin to explain it to himself let alone anyone else.

*** He stared at the institution of forced learning from across the street, adjusting the sleeves on the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing to hide his bandages. He had been in the hospital the past two weeks. His mother wanted him to stay home for awhile, but he didn’t think he could handle anymore of her babying him. That and daytime TV sucked. Isabel had visited him everyday, snuggling up close with him on the bed. It was the only time he wasn’t thinking about what happened. Isabel…his goddess, his girlfriend, his mental soother. He still felt bad for not telling her but he hadn’t told anybody yet, so it wasn’t like he was excluding her from anything. He’d gotten a pretty good amount of practice with his ‘powers’ in the hospital. It felt a little silly calling it that. This wasn’t the X-men but the term seemed to fit. He’d discovered that he could control anything using electricity. He could turn things on or off, make things louder or quieter, faster, slower, higher, lower. Anything he wanted something to do he just had to think it. He’d gotten used to the jumpy twitchy feeling of the energy inside. Though there hadn’t been another incident of the anger/energy build up it was still lurking around in the back of his mind. He didn’t think it happened again because there wasn’t much in a hospital to get mad over besides boredom. However in high school…

Probably no one besides his five closest friends and his band mates noticed he was gone, but still he was hesitant. Now he knew how Max, Michael, and Isabel must have felt/feel everyday. Having some really big secret hanging over your head, but not another soul knows about it and yet there’s still that awkward feeling. He knew what it felt like now, what it felt like to be them. He was going to tell everyone today. He hadn’t said a thing before because he wanted to know what exactly it was that he could do. He wanted to know if he could control himself. After all everyone had been through…he just didn’t want to throw yet another element of danger in their lives. But after the two weeks of practicing he knew what he could do, on a controlled level at least. He hadn’t done much besides turn things off or on and there was now way he was going to test the exploding thing again. Not in the hospital anyway.

He finally crossed the street and saw Max in the parking lot. The hood of the jeep was up and it looked like Max was tinkering with the engine.

“Hey,” Alex said walking up to him.

“Hey,” Max replied. “Frickin’ Jeep.”

“I kind of needed to talk to you about something…car trouble?”

“Yeah, I forgot my biology book at home but the damn thing won’t start. I think it’s the alternator.”

“Why don’t you, you know, use your magic touch,” Alex suggested.

“I tried. You need to talk to me? Is everything okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. Everything is fine…in a sense.”

“A sense?” Max asked still trying to use his powers on the engine.

“Here let me,” Alex said.

“I thought you were computer guy, I didn’t know you knew anything about cars.”

“I don’t, but maybe you just don’t have to right touch.”

Max looked on curiously as Alex placed his hand on the alternator, and nearly jumped at the sound of the engine roaring to life. He instantly got his wide-eyed concerned glare as he looked at Alex.

“How did you? I mean, how can you?”

“It’s what I needed to talk to you about,” Alex said.

Alex told Max all about what happened. The way he could control things, how he made the heart monitor explode. The way he could still feel the energy tingling inside. He begged him not to tell anybody yet, that he planned to talk to everyone at lunch. Max hesitantly agreed and Alex thanked him a hundred times before finally heading off to class.

Lunchtime. Alex headed for everyone at the usual spot underneath the oak tree. He was more than a little apprehensive about telling them. He’s shown Max what he could do earlier, but pleaded with him not to say a word. He walked with his head down still feeling like more of an outcast today. He looked around at everyone, so normal and carefree. They had no idea what he had seen in the last couple of months. Aliens actually existing, FBI infiltrating a school through a guidance counselor, glowing stones that brought back life, evil FBI special units. And now this. It was almost too much to take. Still looking at the ground he couldn’t see Kyle and his gang of goons heading straight toward him. Kyle wasn’t as bad as he used to be. Getting his life saved seemed to change his attitude toward everyone. But that didn’t mean the rest of the guys he hung with wouldn’t still be dorkbutts. Tommy and Paulie nearly bowled over Alex, and they weren’t about to make apologies.

“Watch it Whitman!” Paulie shouted.

“Yeah lightning boy,” Tommy chuckled. “Did it mess up your ability to walk like a normal person? Or are you all retarded now.”

“Funny,” Alex said. “Think that one up all by yourself?”

“You getting smart with me?” Tommy asked getting in Alex’s face.

“Smart? Me?” Alex said sarcastically. He didn’t know what was happening; normally he would be talking back to these guys. He could feel the energy growing; it seemed to be growing with his anger. Just like when… ‘Oh no,’ he thought.

“You know what guys?” Alex said trying to calm himself down. “My mistake I’ll just be going now.”

“Yeah,” Paulie said. “Lucky you were already in the hospital Whitman. Otherwise we might have to send you there.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex said.

“Good boy,” Tommy said punching him in the arm.

Alex winced at the pain it brought; Tommy hit him directly on one of his burns. Anger was usually not a personality trait of Alex; he was too easy going to get mad. But this time…he didn’t want them to get away with their behavior. Those jerks Tommy and Paulie had been acting like that since the fifth grade. Never had any consideration for anybody, always poking fun. He felt his anger grow again, anger brought on from the pain of Tommy’s fist hitting his scorched skin. The energy grew, viciously swimming throughout his body. It was building rapidly, demanding to be released. His hands felt tingly and he rose one toward Tommy and Paulie. His brow creased and his eyes cold.

“Alex!” Isabel shouted quietly from just behind him.

Alex turned toward her instantly feeling the anger die the second he saw her, the energy build up slowly fading away.

“Alex,” she said again. “What the hell is going on? Your hands…they’re glowing…

*** Five wide-eyed, drop-jawed faces stared back at him as he told them all what had happened. The lightning, the powers, the energy. Max said nothing, but he’d already known since this morning. Michael stared blankly. Liz shook her head in disbelief and placed her head on Max’s shoulder. Maria muttered something about being the only normal one left in the bunch and Isabel… She wouldn’t stop touching him. Her hands busy checking every inch, every crevice, and every pore of his body. Fingers curling through his hair occasionally getting shocked by a small spark produced from him.

“What does this, I mean how did this happen?” Isabel asked quietly.

“No clue,” Alex replied. “All I know is that when I woke up in the hospital, I could do these things.” He took Isabel’s hands and gently removed them from their endless search for something wrong with him.

“I’m okay Izzy,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“But your hands, I mean, they were glowing Alex. Something is going on inside of you, and if the end result is glowing appendages it couldn’t possibly be anything good.”

“For all you know glowing appendages could be a benefit,” he said smirking.

She slapped his shoulder. “I’m serious.”

“Ahem,” Max choked getting Isabel and Alex’s attention back to the group. Isabel blushed slightly and returned her hands to Alex, placing them chastely around his shoulders.

“It doesn’t hurt?” Liz asked concerned. “You don’t feel anything?”

“It feels a little tingly all the time, and gets bigger when I get a power build up like that. But other than that, nope, no pain at all.”

“Well what else can you do?” Maria asked. “I mean can you just like, you know, fry people?”

“What?” Alex replied shocked. “I would never! I mean I don’t know actually. Not something I’d care to try.”

“But you possibly could do something like that?” Max asked.

“Maybe. Isabel, remember when you said to me you guys have more questions about yourselves than we do?”

“Yes.”

“Well I guess that applies to me now, I don’t know how this happened. I don’t know why this happened. All I do know is that I have this weird tingling energy inside me that allows me to generate and control electricity. So far I’ve felt no pain, I don’t pass out, I don’t get burned. The only problem so far is if I get mad…then I get a massive charge or something. It’s almost instantaneous.”

A collective gasp passed over the group, and Isabel tightened her hold on Alex’s shoulders.

“What happens when you get mad?” Maria asked quietly. “Fry city?”

“Kind of,” Alex admitted. “See back there with the brainless two I got really mad. I could feel myself wanting to hurt them, and I kind of just let it build you know. Hence the glowing hands.”

“Any other situation where this happened?” Max asked.

“Just once before,” Alex said quietly looking away. “In the hospital. The night I woke up. My heart monitor was driving me nuts with the beep, beep, beeping, and I just wished for it to explode…and it did.”

Alex didn’t look at them, but he knew that they were all exchanging glances amongst each other. Who knows what they thought about this? He was always just dependable, goofy, normal best friend guy Alex. Now he was… for lack of a better word, different. The mere fact that no one was talking could only tell Alex that they weren’t taking it to well. The bell rang but everyone remained seated and silent. Alex grabbed his bag without looking at them, and tried to leave. A small hand grabbed his shoulder and he turned to face to face with Liz.

“We’re all just concerned Alex,” she said her eyes big and full of mixed emotion. “I mean, well you know.”

“I know.” He looked down at everyone who still hadn’t moved. Isabel reached for his hand at he let her. He kissed her open palm and kneeled before everyone. He held out a hand to Maria and she moved to take it, but Alex placed it just above her head and smiled. Liz and Isabel started to giggle when they saw the pixie’s hair stand on end from the static coming off of Alex. Maria started to laugh a little.

“It tickles,” she said with a huge grin plastered on her face. “Still the same old Alex.”

“The one and only,” he said. Everyone’s mood seemed to lighten from his little joke and he smiled slightly. He held up his two index fingers about six inches apart. The group looked on curiously and a second later a thin bolt of electricity began to flow between them.

“It’s nothing to be scared of,” he assured. Alex rose to his feet, kissed Isabel on the cheek and headed toward class. He could hear them all talking now, probably coming up with a plan of some sort. He didn’t know for what, but he knew them. Some kind of plan was being formulated about him. He was a little curious to see what it would be.

*** Alex walked towards to the Chem. lab. Liz had asked him to meet her there after school, and he was wondering why she had wanted to talk to him in that particular room. He entered the room to find her at the back lab station fiddling around with a microscope and some other assorted scientific doohickeys. He was half way across the room when he realized what it was all for.

“What’s this all about Liz?” he asked, startling her.

“Alex, hi. Um, well…here sit down,” she said pulling out a chair.

He gave her a confused/angry glare and sat down.

“Okay,” Liz said. “Now open your mouth.”

“What? I don’t know wha…urg...”

Liz interrupted his words by sticking a cotton swab inside his mouth and swiping it against his cheek. She took the swab over to the microscope and lay the sample on the little glass sheet. Alex glared at her. Sure she was concerned about him, but he couldn’t believe she was doing this. Checking his cells to make sure they were normal. Hadn’t he just shown them nothing has changed? That he was still the same old Alex? Still, here she was playing doctor on him. He sighed, and Liz looked up from the microscope.

“Your cells are normal,” she said with a small smile.

“I could have told you that,” he replied.

She picked up his hands and examined each one. Shined a mini-maglite in his eyes, took a little mallet and tapped his knees, testing the reflexes. He was getting agitated that she was doing this. What was he? A lab rat? She then handed him two needles of an instrument he knew quite well. An ohmmeter. He used these quite frequently working on computers all the time. He smirked. No way could it possibly measure the volts he knew he could put out.

“You know this thing isn’t going to tell you anything,” he said.

“Humor me,” she replied looking at the screen of it. She watched as the number steadily grew. Five volts, twelve volts, twenty volts, fifty volts, one hundred fifty.

Alex smiled, as her eyes grew bigger with surprise. He wasn’t even trying. He turned on the juice a little, and watched as the unit started to smolder.

‘Oh no!’ he thought. “Liz drop it!” he shouted.

It hit the floor with and clank and Liz watched as smoke rose from it. She immediately shot her hand to Alex’s neck checking his pulse. He swatted her hand away.

“Liz would you just stop! What’s with these little experiments huh? I’m not a freaking ali…” He let his sentence drift off and lowered his head, trying to control the energy surge that was rising with his anger. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m okay?”

“I was just looking for an answer,” Liz said quietly. “Some sort of scientific explanation about how this happened.”

“I don’t have any answers!” he exploded, causing the TV in the room to follow his outburst. Alex looked at the TV, and back to Liz who was backing away in a daze her eyes filling with tears. For the first time in his life, it looked like she was scared of him.

“Oh god, Liz. I’m sorry,” he said running to her and wrapping her in a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m just worried Alex,” she said into his chest. “We all are. I told them I would do this today, try to understand it a little more you know?”

“I don’t understand it anymore than you do,” he replied. “This,” he said pointing at the table and all her equipment. “It didn’t help you any, did it?”

She shook her head and he pulled away slightly keeping his hands on her shoulders.

“I should go now,” he said looking over at the remains of the TV. “You might want to stay away from me, for awhile, all of you…until I figure out how to control these little outbursts.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Liz said. “We can help, all of us, I know we can.”

He smiled and hugged her again. “Thanks, but you can’t help me. No one can.”

He turned and ran out of the room ignoring Liz’s calls for him to come back.

*** The bed creaked under his weight as he sprawled out flat on his back. He was all alone in his house, having only the tingling feeling of the energy keeping him company. It had been a solid week since he had told Liz to stay away from him. He’d managed to avoid Isabel, Maria, Max, and Michael as well. He’d been very good at hiding from them at school, even managing to slip away if one of them were waiting outside one of his classes. He ignored all calls, and when they showed up at his house, he would tell his mom he didn’t want to see them. She asked why he was distancing himself from his friends and Alex had just told her that they all had a big misunderstanding. He didn’t want to be anywhere near them if there was still that remote possibility that he could hurt anyone of them.

The need to sleep weighed heavily on his eyelids. He certainly hadn’t been getting his doctor recommended eight hours lately. Rolling on his side he found himself staring longingly at a picture of Isabel. He wanted to go to her so badly. He knew she was the only one who could possibly comfort him right now. His hand reached out to the phone, but at the last second he let it fall back to the bed. He sighed. Deciding not to fight it anymore, he closed his eyes.

The dream seemed to come to him the second he drifted off to sleepy land. The scene that lay before him was something right out of a bad sci-fi flick. Alex found himself somewhere in the desert right in the middle of some sort of battle. Dirt and sand flew everywhere; explosions went off all around, flashes of light streaked over his head.

‘Whoa,’ he thought ducking and jumping behind a rock. ‘Can’t get caught with my head off.’

“Alex!” he heard Max shout. “We need you over here, come on!”

Alex started to run towards him when he felt a burst of power go off just behind him. He was sent hurtling through the air and landed gruffly at Max’s feet.

“You alright?” Max asked.

“Fine,” Alex replied rising to his feet. “Max, what is going…”

“There!” Max shouted, interrupting him. He was pointing at someone off in the distance.

“Huh?”

“There!” Max shouted again. “That one. Fry him!”

“What?!”

“Do it now!”

Without thinking Alex shot his hand toward the being in the distance. He saw his hands glowing with the energy, and didn’t even blink when lightning irrupted from his fingertips. It struck the being head-on and it collapsed to the ground. He turned to ask what was going on again.

“Max!” he shouted as he saw Max nearly get his head taken off by a boulder flying through the air. A hand latched onto Alex’s shoulder and he whirled around to strike but found himself face to face with Isabel.

“Izzy! What the hell is going on here?”

“You said you were meant to help Alex,” she replied cryptically, giving him a millisecond peck on the cheek. “You’re helping.”

“Helping what?” he screamed.

She didn’t answer him, and was already on the move attacking anything that got within twenty feet of her. Alex ducked another streak of light and braved a look around. He saw Michael and Tess, hands white with power, sending more enemies flying. He rose from his crouched position, frying a few more beings that tried to attack him. This was intense. Left and right battles raged on as Alex ran around zapping anything that looked unfriendly. He’d never once imagined using his powers like this, but in this in chaotic ‘apocalypse now’ scenario he had no choice.

Hearing a twig snap behind him he turned faster than he ever thought he could move. He was immediately puzzled by what he saw. A girl in a Crashdown waitress uniform giving him the most evil, soulless smile he’d ever seen. She didn’t attempt to attack him, and he made no move to attack her. They stood amongst all the mayhem surrounding them locked in a silent stare.

“You’re not one of them,” she said breaking the silence.

“No, I’m not,” he replied.

“Then why are you here?” the girl asked.

“Ah, the 64,000 dollar question,” Alex said. “Sorry Bob, I’m afraid I don’t know the answer.”

Alex felt Isabel stand next to him. Then Max, then Michael, and finally Tess.

“You!” Isabel seethed.

“Me,” the girl responded, laughing softly. “You will all die,” she threatened before reaching her hands up and peeling the skin off of her face. She growled at launched herself at them…

BOOM! The thunder roared so loudly that it caused the windows to rattle.

Alex awoke with a start on his bed covered in sweat. He was shaking. It was just a dream, but it seemed so real, too real. His breathing was still erratic, but the shaking stopped. The thunderclaps still relented outside and Alex felt the energy inside start to grow. It felt strange, he wasn’t angry at all but still it seemed to be building. His legs began to feel jittery, like he couldn’t sit still another second longer. Lightning flashed throughout the entire house and the energy felt like it doubled inside. He couldn’t stand it any longer he had to go. Alex jumped off of his bed, ran through the living room, and nearly blew the front door off its hinges. Seconds after clearing the porch he was soaked to the bone, but he didn’t care. More thunder roared overhead and lighting flashed again. Still he kept running, the energy fueling his speed. Something was out there. Every time the lightning struck, or the thunder boomed, he heard it. Something was calling him.

*** Isabel stared at the clock on her bedside table and sighed heavily. Three-thirty on a Sunday afternoon and what was she doing? Laying on her bed like a lump blanketed in self-pity. She was so tired of it, of Alex pushing her away when he clearly needed her. He was the last person in the world she ever thought would pull a Max. Her eyes wandered to her phone mentally willing him to call. She knew she wasn’t going to try again. He was just going to have to come to her. However that tactic didn’t appear to be working. Alex had made no attempt to contact her or anyone else and he shunned whomever tried to get a hold of him. Her room was so quiet she could hear the second hand on her clock ticking away. Letting out a frustrated growl and deciding she’d had enough, Isabel grabbed her set of keys for the jeep and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Max asked from the doorway to the living room as she rushed past him.

“Alex’s,” she replied shortly.

“Going to try again huh?” he asked.

“Oh no,” she replied with determination. “I’m not going to TRY anything. I aim to get results.”

“He’ll come to us when he’s ready you know.”

“No I don’t know that Max!” Isabel shouted. “We haven’t seen or heard from him in a week! We haven’t the slightest idea what is going on with him! God, he must feel so…”

Max walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m going over there,” she said and headed out the door before Max could say anything more.

She lifted her jacket over her head to keep off the rain as she ran to the jeep.

“It just had to be raining,” she muttered to herself as she climbed in and started the jeep. The roads were practically all puddles as the rain continued to beat down on the ragtop. Isabel had to go a mere twenty miles an hour to avoid spinning out of control. The jeep may have great traction in the dirt, but in the rain it was hell on wheels. She turned onto Alex’s street just in time to see him vault from his house and take off running.

‘Is he nuts?’ she thought. It was raining cats and dogs outside, not to mention the thunder and lighting reeking havoc in the sky. She couldn’t help but hit the gas and follow. He was moving fast. Really fast. The jeep was almost struggling to keep up. She looked down at the speedometer and a surprised gasp escaped her throat. She was doing seventy miles an hour and Alex was still a good fifty feet ahead of her showing no sign of slowing the slightest bit. She chased him through town and down the highway not caring the she was hydroplaning all over.

‘How the hell is he…’

She didn’t get to finish her thought as he veered off into the desert and she skidded to a halt and gave chase once more.

Alex ran faster than he ever thought humanly possible. He was zipping through town in seconds and passing cars like they were parked on the side of the highway instead of screaming down it. The rain pelted against his face and splashed underneath his shoes, but he didn’t feel cold or wet. He only felt the energy racing through him at a level he never felt before. Surely it was powering his speed. It seemed to be pulling at him, guiding him somewhere.

There. He heard it again. That angelic voice calling him. He had no idea where he was going but he knew he was heading straight for the source of that voice. His lungs should have been on fire and his body should have felt weary long ago, but he felt no fatigue or ache. He glanced around for the first time seeing that he was deep into the desert. He saw lighting dance across the mountain tops and felt a warm feeling spread through him. He felt so connected to it and it was beautiful. He thought he heard the jeep behind him as it brought him out of his daze, but he didn’t turn back to make sure. Because if he did he knew he would want to stop, and he couldn’t stop. Not for whomever was following him, not for anything. He veered off of the highway and into the desert, the sound of wet sand and dirt squishing underneath him filled his ears. He was so close. He could sense it was near. The calling. He reached a rock formation that jutted itself into the sky and ran straight to the top without the slightest effort.

He was here. This place, this rock in the middle of nowhere. It was where he wanted to be he was sure if it. The energy buzzed with life inside him and the voice was out there. He dropped to his knees and raised his fists into the air. Thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance. Soon he would have his answers. His eyes searched the clouds as he felt the energy pulsate with every heartbeat. He saw a light in the distance. His breathing ceased and his eyes closed. He felt it the second before it hit, and never before had he felt such calm.

Isabel skidded to a halt at the base of the rock formation she saw Alex run up. Wait a minute, it was their rock formation. The one where the pods were stored. What was he doing here? She got out of the jeep not caring about the rain and tried to run up after him but the surface was too slick and she kept sliding back down. She shielded her eyes with her hand to try and get a better view. She could barely make out Alex’s form kneeling with his hands raised, but she saw him.

“Alex!” she tried shouting. “Alex!” ‘Dammit,’ she thought.

She watched him a second longer before all the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The air around her felt charged. She shivered at her new found wetness and looked back to the jeep. Maybe she could wait for him to finish whatever it was he was doing while not risking hypothermia sitting in the jeep. No she decided standing her ground. She would wait right here. Her eyes looked back up to where Alex was kneeling and they soon grew wide with fear. A small gasp escaped her throat before all the air felt as if it was sucked out of her lungs. The biggest bolt of lightning she’d ever seen ripped through the clouds heading straight for Alex and hitting him dead on.

“Alex!!!” she shrieked before her knees gave out and she collapsed onto the ground. Tears flowed as hard as the rain as her body wracked with sobs.

“No,” she cried softly. “Please no.”

Alex was bathed in light. He felt the lightning strike but didn’t feel a fraction of the agony like when it had happened before. This was something different. It wasn’t meant to hurt him he was sure of that. He felt the energy inside and out surround him a blanket of calm, and he heard the voice again.

“We have searched far and wide for the one we deemed worthy,” it said. “Alex Whitman, we have chosen you. You have the most valiant, true, and noble heart of your kind. We apologize for our painful methods of awakening your inner power. We would have not chosen such a way unless absolutely necessary. As you hear my voice you are being provided with complete knowledge of your capabilities. Our purpose of providing you with these gifts is simple. You are to assist my children and their betrothed against the evil that threatens your planet. Help them to destroy it so we can finally be at peace.”

An image of a woman draped in a simple white dress appeared across his eyelids, and he felt a ghostly hand trace down his cheek.

“I thank you in advance Alex Whitman, for I know you will do what is right.”

The voice, the image, and the light all faded away as Alex’s hands fell from the sky and onto the dirt. His eyes fluttered open and he looked out at the horizon. The rain ceased and he looked toward the sky seeing sunlight breaking through the clouds. He breathed deeply as he forced himself to his feet. Staring at his hands he willed them to glow with the power he had and grinned at how easily he could control the energy now. He shot a bolt towards the sun and shouted out in relief. He had his answers. He had his purpose for being graced with these abilities. He was to help them fight in their destiny. He felt the smile on his face grow bigger. He could finally protect Isabel like he had always vowed he would. He would have to ask one of them about the image of the woman he had seen. There was a strange familiarity about her.

Alex turned and headed down the rock, immediately rushing to Isabel when he saw her huddled at the base of it sobbing uncontrollably.

“Isabel?” he asked kneeling next to her.

“Alex?” she whispered.

She felt his hand on her shoulder and turned her head to face him.

“You’re alive,” she said quietly seemingly shocked. “You’re alive!” she shouted tackling him into the ground and squeezing the life out of him.

“I won’t be for long if you don’t let me breathe,” he gasped.

Her lips crushed his as she squeezed him harder. He was okay, her mind gibbered. He was okay, he was okay, he was okay.

She broke the kiss and looked into his deep blue eyes. She saw something different in them, something stronger, something wiser, something more understanding.

“What was that?” she asked. “I…I thought I was going to lose you. I saw it, I saw it hit you.”

He pulled her into a hug, reveling in the warmth her body brought despite them both being soaking wet.

“It was an answer,” he replied. “An answer to it all Isabel. I finally got them. I can finally control everything I can do. It’s…it’s so amazing.”

“What are the answers?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you when we get everyone together,” he replied. “But first let me ask you something.”

“Anything,” she said kissing his forehead.

“What did your mother look like?”

*** “How do you know what you saw?!” Tess exclaimed glaring at Alex.

Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew it would be difficult convincing Tess of anything, but this isn’t what he expected. He looked around at everyone all gathered atop Liz’s roof. Max, Liz, Maria, Michael, Isabel, himself, and Tess. Everyone else seemed to believe him, they had nothing to convince them otherwise. But Tess. She was livid. She didn’t believe a word he’d said. Sure she didn’t like him. In her mind it was he who convinced Isabel the mating part of destiny was a farce, therefore spoiling any hopes she’d had. Michael was willing to give it a shot at first despite his heart forever belonging to Maria. Because of that Tess was hopeful Max would eventually feel the same way. But because of Alex’s willingness to let Isabel go, she realized that there was no one else for her. She didn’t want anyone else but Alex. Michael’s interest immediately dwindled after his fear of hurting Maria faded away. Well, he did hurt her again but not in the physical sense he was afraid of. Anyway, Tess blamed Alex for it all and rarely even acknowledged his presence. He should have expected no less when he would tell her that he was chosen to aid them all against the evil aliens.

“Look,” Alex said calmly. “I know exactly what I saw. I know it was Max and Isabel’s mother, okay?”

“You don’t know for sure,” Tess retorted.

“Call it a gut feeling,” Alex replied.

“So you’re saying that beings of our home planet, the same beings that sent us all here, have decided we needed extra help and chose you?”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t buy it,” she said. “Max, don’t tell me you believe him too.”

“He did describe our mother exactly the way we saw her,” Max said. “And it does seem to be the most logical explanation for Alex’s powers.”

“Right, I forgot about your powers Al,” Tess said sarcastically. “I have yet to even see them.”

“Alex,” he corrected. “Would you like a demonstration?”

“By all means,” she replied waving her hand in a tired motion.

Alex locked eyes with everyone, and they all nodded that he should show her. He looked to Isabel. She nodded in agreement with the rest of them that it would a good way to convince her. Alex looked backed to Tess and the look on her face was one of skepticism. Her eyes were saying “go ahead earth boy, wow me.” Alex smiled slightly. She had know idea what she was in for. He rose a hand toward her and felt the energy tingle inside before manifesting itself into his hands causing a clean white glow. Tess’s eyes grew wide with disbelief and her mouth slacked open a fraction of an inch. Alex’s smile grew wider as visible crackles of electricity flowed between his fingers. He’d never felt this in control before and he was loving every second of it. He shot a small bolt at Tess’s feet and she jumped back squeaking in shock. Everyone’s heads turned toward Alex and he chuckled softly.

“Sorry,” he said. “Couldn’t resist.”

They all giggled and Tess huffed furiously, her eyes shooting daggers at Alex.

“Believe me now?” Alex asked.

“It still doesn’t mean you were chosen by them,” Tess replied.

“Believe what you want to Tess,” he said. “Just know that when these bad guys show up, I’ll be there. Right?” he asked looking at Isabel. She answered by taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.

“No one else I’d rather have watching my back,” Isabel said with a smile.

Tess turned away and blew her breath out in a annoyed fashion. It looked like she had nothing else to add.

“What about you Max?” Alex asked. “You have any objections?”

Max shook his head. “No,” he said. “As long as no one gets hurt, your help would be fine by me.”

“Michael?”

“Well considering we have no idea when these bozo’s are going to show, if they even do at all. I guess it’s good that you’ll be there,” Michael said. “Just don’t expect me to have to save your ass all the time.”

“I always knew you had a soft spot spaceboy,” Maria said kissing his cheek and putting her head on his shoulder. He glared at her, but it looked like he was about to blush.

“Did their mother say anything about when these bad guys were going to come around?” Liz asked Alex, her head still nuzzled into Max’s chest.

Alex looked at all of his friends. No longer feeling like a freak or an outcast. He’d been so stupid shunning them the last week. As long as he had them to turn to, everything would turn out fine. At least he hoped so, for all their sakes.

“Alex?” Liz questioned.

“No,” he finally replied leaning back and wrapping his arms around Isabel. “But I have the feeling that they’re going to be here sometime in the near future.”

Everyone, even Tess nodded their heads in agreement at the future events they all knew were to come. Alex took one last glance around before melting against Isabel. Max and Liz on one of her lawn chairs, so wrapped up in each other the conversation of future hell looking already forgotten. Michael and Maria, though actually quiet for once the sparks that danced between them could still be heard. Finally his eyes settled on Tess. Lonely looking, and spiteful. He knew that she would appreciate his assistance to them. Call it another gut feeling. The roof remained quiet for sometime, Alex knew that they were all processing what he had told them. Despite the silence surrounding everyone whom were all lost in their thoughts. No one heard the sounds of footsteps down below.

“Oh, we’ll be here alright,” Courtney Banks said looking at the roof and dropping off her application through the Crashdown’s mail slot. “Sooner than you think.”

Back to Area 51 (Section III)