Quick-Fire Issue 0.5

"Sir. Sir! Professor Davison! Wake up!"

What happened? Where am I? Why am I so hot? Oh, jeez, why am I so cold now?!

"John! Wake up!" J.E.S.T.E.R. shouts. John snaps his eyes open and sits up. The room is filled with smoke, light barely peeking through the thick cloud. The sphere still stands there, shattered in half. The metal lining is still there, and is sparking, but there's something wrong with the sparks. They're slow. Slow forming, slow dissipating.

What's this buzzing I feel? It feels... great. Like electricity running through my body!

"John! Thank God you're alive! I feared the worst. Quickly, you need to get out of here," J.E.S.T.E.R. exclaims. John stands up and looks out the window into the hallway. The glass hasn't shattered, which is good, mainly because it's Metallic Glass. If that broke, who knows how much damage that could cause. But what is really running through John's mind is why everyone running out of the building is running so slow?

"J.E.S.T.E.R., I'm OK. Why is everyone moving so slowly?" John asks.

"Probably because you're moving so fast," J.E.S.T.E.R. replies.

"What do you mean, I'm standing still!" John exclaims.

"My current processing speed is one thousand percent. I've been running scans on you and found that your brain's processing power is the equivalent of my processing power running at one thousand percent." J.E.S.T.E.R. explains.

"One thousand percent?! You must be joking," John scoffs. He walks over to the platform where the sphere used to stand. He turns behind him and sees a light gray trail following behind him, moving back towards him. "What's that?!"

"That, Professor, would be the trail your body creates when you run at super speeds. My word, have you never read a comic book?" J.E.S.T.E.R. retorts.

John waves his hand back and forth slowly, looking at the trail, a translucent haze, the same shade of light gray as the jumpsuit he was wearing. "J.E.S.T.E.R., can I slow down? Or do I have to live out the rest of my life moving faster than everyone else?" John asks.

"This is just a theory, mainly because you are the first speedster in account, but if you just concentrate on slowing down?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"Alright, I'll try," John begins. He shuts his eyes tight, trying to concentrate on the action of slowing down. "It's not working! Everything's still moving slowly!"

"What if you just calm down? Or... think slow thoughts?" J.E.S.T.E.R. replies. John nods in agreement with a muttered OK, and releases tension on his muscles, his joints, and on his mind. Everything begins to speed up around him. "Decreasing processing speed to normal. Welcome back to normality, Professor Davison."

"I need to get out of here. I gotta find Kate. Do you know if she's still in the building?" John asks.

"She checked in to the triage outside the building set up by Bank City General Hospital. She's fine. Just a couple bumps and bruises. Nothing serious," J.E.S.T.E.R. replies.

"Good. That's good. I'm getting out of here. Message Kate and tell her I'm fine and that I'm heading out now," John commands.

"Right away, sir." J.E.S.T.E.R. responds. John walks over to the door to exit the lab. He enters a code into a number pad next to the door, and it slides open with ease. John makes his way over to the elevators down the hall from the lab. It's a wonder they didn't cave in, due to their location, with them being so close to the now exploded laboratory. John presses a button on the elevator panel, and an elevator opens.

"Huh. I thought people would be trying to get out using these," John chuckles.

"You do realize that you shouldn't use an elevator in case of a fire, or in this case, an explosion." J.E.S.T.E.R. states.

"I know, Mr. PSA, but I'm not walking down over a hundred flights of stairs," John retorts.

"Next time, just be safe." J.E.S.T.E.R. says.

"Next time? You mean, the next time I blow up my own building?" John asks.

"Insurance fraud?" J.E.S.T.E.R. jokes.

"You know I founded this company on good morals. I will not claim that this was an accident, even for the money," John says with pride.

"John, you do know that this was an accident, right?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"Yes, J.E.S.T.E.R., I do know. But in some way, I don't think it was. I think that, subconsciously, I wanted this to fail," John explained. He pauses for a moment, then starts laughing. "I knew this was an accident! What do you think I am, suicidal?!" The two of them laugh for the entirety of the ride down to the bottom floor of the blown up building.

"So you'll take the money?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"Hell no. If they even force it down my throat, I'll decline," John states.

"What about the building?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"I'll pay for it," John announces.

"The damages to the building will bankrupt the company." J.E.S.T.E.R. explains.

"It was that bad, really?" John asks.

"Well, when you take into account the reactor in the basement powering the building and the whole of the city, the immense damage you've done to not only your lab, but to the entire building and buildings around us, then there's workers comp, and-" J.E.S.T.E.R. begins. The elevator opens with a ding.

"We'll talk about this later," John states as he steps off of the elevator. He walks out into the lobby. Chunks of the ceiling are on the floor, desks, computers, phones, and other office paraphernalia strewn about. John steps over a busted computer, and out into the broad daylight of Bank City. He stares up and sees a thick plume of smoke rising out of the hole in the roof where his lab was.

"John! John! Oh my God, John!" Kate screams as she runs over to hug her thought dead husband. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. J.E.S.T.E.R. ran scans on me before I left my lab. Made sure I wasn't concussed or had anything broken or anything," John explains.

"OK. I think you should still at least see the doctors and nurses at the medical tent, or at least see a doctor at an ambulance," Kate states.

"Kate. I'm fine. I stopped off at the medical sciences floor on my way down, anyways," John reassures. Kate stares at John for a couple seconds, then smiles.

"I'm just glad that you're OK, and that you weren't affected," Kate says. She takes his hand in hers. "Let's go home."

Ten fifty five PM. Kate is asleep in bed, while John sits out in the living room in his pajamas, staring down at his legs.

"J.E.S.T.E.R., besides the speed, what else did those scans show about me?" John asks. A holographic chart appears in front of John listing off things found by a scan. The list reads

• Fluctuating body temperature
• Decrease in body's gravitational field
• Increased mental activity
• Body absorbing heavy amount of oxygen

"I've taken the liberty of removing 'Increased cellular flux" from the list," J.E.S.T.E.R. states.

"And this is it? That's all that's up with me?" John asks.

"Are you saying that my scanners are false?" J.E.S.T.E.R. questions.

"Saying that is like saying that my scanners are false. Mainly because I made your scanners," John explains. "So, we know I can control my speed, what about these other things? Like... fluctuating body temperature?" John asks.

"Well, I guess we could. Have you ever heard of g-tummo?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"Yeah, the meditation technique that Tibetan nuns have used to control their body heat. They can raise it up to a hundred and one degrees Fahrenheit," John answers.

"Exactly. By using this form of meditation, we can control your body heat, and raise it to a temperature hot enough to combust," J.E.S.T.E.R. explains.

"You want me to light myself on fire?" John asks.

"Yes, but in a... controlled burn," J.E.S.T.E.R. replies.

"OK, fine. How do I do this?" John asks.

"Two techniques, specifically, caused the change in the Tibetan monks. 'Vase breath' is a breathing technique that causes heat production, and visualization—in this case, of flames near the spine—also accounted for the increase." J.E.S.T.E.R. begins. "Basically, imagine you're lighting your own spine on fire, but control the fire. With your mind."

"It's worth a shot," John says. He sits down on the floor with his legs crossed. He closes his eyes and buts his hands on his knees. His eyes begin to glow orange, then smoke begins to rise off of his arms and body. Then, WOOSH! Johns arms ignite, and John begins to freak out. "What the! J.E.S.T.E.R.! Activate fire suppression!"

"You need to control the fire, John. Feel it as it is a part of you!" J.E.S.T.E.R. explains. John quells his screams of agony, and falls to his knees. His eyes remain closed. The flames on his arms go down, and John's eyes shoot open.

"J.E.S.T.E.R., this feels amazing," John exclaims.

"I can imagine it does. You are controlling fire," J.E.S.T.E.R. replies. The fire on his arms extinguish, and John gets up off of his knees.

"Can we try something else?!" John asks with glee.

"Your temperature was reaching low points too. Maybe you can try the g-tummo meditation, but go cooler instead of hotter?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"It's worth a shot," John says as he sits back on the floor. His eyes close and he puts his hands on his knees. Instead of his arms smoking, the air turns cold, and his breath becomes visible. His arms begin to frost over, then giant arms made of ice wrap around John's. His eyes shoot open. "Oh my god. This is awesome. I don't even feel the cold!"

"Your internal body heat must be just enough to keep your body from freezing, but just cold enough to keep the ice there. And the same must work with your pyrokinesis," J.E.S.T.E.R. explains.

"I need to test this out," John says. He rushes into the kitchen and pours a glass of water. He holds it in his hand, and frost begins to cover the glass. Then suddenly, a white fog bursts out of John's hand, and the water in the glass is now ice. "Whoa. Dude, that's cool." He keeps the glass in his hand, and smoke begins rising out of his arms. The ice melts, and begins to bubble.

"Sir, if you keep increasing the temperature of the glass, it's gonna start melting." J.E.S.T.E.R. warns.

"I know. That's why I'm keeping it at a level where the water will just..." John begins. The water begins to turn into gas, and starts to evaporate. "Evaporate."

"Congratulations, Professor Davison. You are now a human kettle." J.E.S.T.E.R. says with a scoff.

"Haha," John sneers. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Your personal gravitational field is malleable. Maybe you could use it to grip onto other things without touching them?" J.E.S.T.E.R. explains. John smiles and places the glass on the other side of the counter.

"How do I do this?" John asks.

"I'd just reach out and use the natural pull of things to move the glass closer to you." J.E.S.T.E.R. says. John reaches for the glass from the other side of the counter. The glass begins to shake, and slide closer to John, whose smile grows wider. The glass flings off the counter and into his hand.

"HAHA! Yes! I did it!" John cheers.

"Shh. You wouldn't want to wake the misses," J.E.S.T.E.R. warns.

"True... what was that last thing on the list?" John asks.

"Increased Mental Activity." J.E.S.T.E.R. reads.

"Do you think that could possibly mean... telepathy?" John asks.

"I'd give it a try. And we have a sleeping test subject upstairs." J.E.S.T.E.R. announces. John looks up towards the bedroom door, and walks upstairs to it. He opens it slowly, then creeps in. Kate is still asleep in bed. John moves to the foot of the bed.

"Alright, J.E.S.T.E.R. What now?" John whispers.

"Like with your telepathy, your mind can wrap around others, and read their thoughts. Find out what's going on inside their minds. So just focus on Kate's mind, and enter it." J.E.S.T.E.R. explains. John stands there looking at Kate. His eyes open wide, and his pupils dilate. He enters Kate's dream.

John is now standing in a field. Up on a hill, Kate stands there staring at a grave. John walks over to Kate upon the hill, and looks down at the grave. The inscription on the grave reads:

Here lies Professor John Davison

1995-2020

"When life seems bleak, and if you

feel you can't go on, the one thing

you need to move on is hope."

Kate begins to cry. John tries to put his hand on her shoulder, put it just passes through. BOOM! John and Kate both look up to the sky, and see an armada of spaceships entering Earth's atmosphere. Kate steps away from the grave, and pulls what looks like an action figure out of her coat pocket. She presses a button in the center of it and tosses it. The suit grows into a large metallic battle suit. Kate removes her coat and climbs into the suit. The back closes, and wings pop out of the back. She flies up into the sky towards the armada, and the dream ends.

John steps back away from the bed. He stands there with his eyes wide open.

"What is it? What did you see?" J.E.S.T.E.R. whispers.

"I need to go," John says with no expression in his voice. He walks out of the bedroom and onto the terrace. He leans on the edge, looking out over the city. A digitized body appears next to John.

"You were given these powers for a reason, John. It's a blessing." J.E.S.T.E.R. says.

"More like a curse in a disguise," John replies.

"What did you see?" J.E.S.T.E.R. asks.

"I saw Kate on a hilltop in all black. She was standing in front of a grave, my grave. Then aliens arrived, and she flew off to fight them." John explains.

"She flew away?" J.E.S.T.E.R. questions.

"She had... power armor? And, it grew from being pocket sized to being something you can wear," John explains.

"She was a superhero, you mean." J.E.S.T.E.R. says. "Doesn't that kinda... inspire you... to become a superhero?" John stares out towards the city. Since his apartment was atop one of the largest buildings in the city, he couldn't hear the sounds from the streets below. But since it was quiet up above in the clouds, John could just barley hear the sirens, screams, and gunfire from below. And at that moment, John realized that his beautiful city, the one he now calls home, isn't as beautiful as he thought.

"Where do I start?"

Continued in Quick-Fire Issue #1