Origins 1: Zach

I shat myself. 

In case you were wondering, I'm not a baby, or a dog. No, I don't have control issues down there. This was an honest to god fear pooping, which until now I thought were a myth. And can you blame me? I just stole a few hundred dollars from the worlds most powerful teenage superhero, and he was PISSED. It had been a normal day for me, using my super speed to pickpocket at a comfortable Mach eight. I  grabbed some dudes wallet, but instead of remaining a still statue like everyone else in the world, he ripped his shirt off, revealing a purple uniform emblazoned with a sword. I started sprinting away, but he started flying faster than even I could run. 

Why does this kind of thing have to happen to me?

Power crashed into the pavement in front of me, crushing the asphalt beneath him into a small crater. He stood up slowly, and raised a hand. "Surrend-" he began to shout, but I grabbed a piece of rebar from a shattered cement block at my feet and whipped it at his face. The chunk of steel actually friggin bent around his chiseled jaw. Guess they weren't lying when they said he was The Invincible Boy. 

Light erupted from his eyes and raced towards my chest, moving fast even for me. I ducked under the purple laser, but I wasn't fast enough and I felt it singe my back. , I cried out from the pain before slowing the pain receptors of my body, cutting off the feeling in my back. I'd have to feel it eventually, but for now I was fine. I launched myself at him, swinging both fists with everything I had at his throat. When they connected he took a step backward, and coughed. Shit shit shit shit shit. I know he's supposed to be strong but this is ridiculous. I sprinted half a mile away in a second and launched a Mach ten haymaker at his face. It launched him backwards at what must have been thousands of miles per hour to everyone around us. To me, he was lazily floating a few feet in the air, helpless, headed in the direction of an office building. I turned to run, but a deafening moaning sound filled my ears. Somethings happening in the non slow world, I thought. I sped my ears up to normal time, and I didn’t like what I heard. It sounded somewhat like glass shattering, sonic booms, and hundreds of voices screaming. Then it dawned on me. 

OH SHIT.

THE BUILDING

Power would be fine, but the civilians on the first floor would turned into a red paste. The survivors would be crushed as the building collapsed. I would single-handedly kill thousands of people, both in the building and around it if I ran away. Then again, I risked capture if I went back.

Shiiiiiiiiit. 

I jogged up to the Unbreakable Boy, and grabbed his ankle. Later, I would learn that Power isn't just a flying brick. His species were powerful tactile-telekinetics, which are like normal telekinetics, except they can only control what they touch. Most modern villians have suits that negate telekinetic control over them, but at this point I was just wearing jeans, a hoodie, and a ski mask. I paid for my fashion sense.

Dearly.

Power crushed me. I stumbled, unable to stand from the pain, and collapsed to the ground crying as the world sped up to normal and lost its blue tint. I tried to crawl away, but he stepped on my legs, stopping my escape. I looked back and saw him gritting his teeth. 

“I'm sorry, I don't want to do this, but if you run away a lot of people could get hurt, and I can't let that happen. I wouldn’t do this if there was any other way.”

And with the force of a semi-truck he cracked my legs in half.

FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE FIGHT

“Zachary Jonathan Browne, You are sentenced to nine years in the Lakesford Valley Penitentiary for assault and battery, robbery in the first degree, and violating the enhanced regulation act."

The judge looked down on me and frowned, as they rolled my wheelchair away.

I was thirteen years old at the time.