Genesis 1.4

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

Unsure of how to react to the strange image hanging in the air, the kid simply stared even as he tried to think about what he was seeing. Namely, why he was seeing an RPG text box in the first place. I'm not hallucinating, right? I'm not crazy. I'm not.

He bit his lip, confused as to what to actually do here with something as odd as this literally staring him in the face. Even worse was the jarring recollection of seeing something exactly like this right before he passed out on the street.

Seriously, what is this?

He could deal with barely having any memories.

He could deal with living on the streets.

Hell, he could even deal with living in a comic-book world and finding out he was a comic-book character, as well as the weirdness that came with that. Still, there was only so much weirdness he could take before his head exploded and a sudden game interface appearing out of nowhere was pretty damn weird.

Even weirder than glowing hands.

Blowing air out of his mouth, the kid did the only thing he could think of in this situation.

"Ow!"

He pinched himself.

-1

Okay, ow. And I have HP too. This is just getting even worse. The kid raised his hands in exasperation, just shrugging at the surreality of the situation. "You know what? Whatever, let me just…" He let out a deep sigh, slapping himself on the forehead. "Menu."

STATS

PERKS

SKILLS

ABILITIES

INVENTORY

QUESTS Mission "Tutorial: The Absolute Basics" Success!

Gained 25 xp.

As he finished reading it, the second text box vanished, the entire thing disappearing between eye blinks as if it was never there.

"What the actual hell?"

He spoke the sentence in an undertone, whispering harshly to himself as he once again read the original blue text box. His mouth was still slightly ajar as he tracked the words, the young teen not making any sense of the situation. All he knew was that it was getting harder and harder to dismiss this as a hallucination or a dream with this interface staring him in the face.

I definitely can't be dreaming. I pinched myself so I know I'm not dreaming… Right? He frowned at the thought, aware that it wasn't the first time that he had asked himself that since he had found out exactly what type of world he found himself on. Dreams don't last for weeks so I can't be dreaming.

The boy glanced down, half-closing his eyelids as he tried to think his way through this… whatever this was. I'm not dreaming. I don't feel loopy so I'm not on drugs and I'm not crazy enough to have hallucinations. He frowned slightly at the last thought, aware of the fallacy of someone acting as a judge of their own mental health, but brushed it off as he continued along his train of thought. Since I'm not dreaming, on drugs or crazy, this is most likely part of my powers. It has to be.

As he opened his eyes once more, the kid slowly nodded to himself as he went over his conclusion in his head several more times until he was sure of it. Satisfied by his rationalization of the situation, the kid flicked his gaze back up to track the floating words, sure of how to proceed. If my powers are game-based, then my powers are game-based. I can live with that.

"Stats."

[Unnamed]

Level 1

XP: 50/250

Age: 13

HP: 109/110* [170]

MP: 60/60

Will: 45/45

STR: 7* [10]

SPD: 7* [10]

VIT: 6*

INT: 12

WIS: 8

CHA: 10

Stat Points: 2

Cash: $375

Traits

Malnourished: Too little to eat for too long has weakened your body, drained you of vitality and made you more susceptible to bumps and bruises. (-30% to STR & SPD, Health does not gain VIT bonus, Health/Will recovery is slowed by 50%, and Will-based skills cost twice as much)

Bright Kid: While you're no genius or some prodigy, you're obviously brighter than most kids. By the time you're an adult, however, no one will care. (Before the age of 18: +75% to INT gain and +25% to speed of learning Mana-based skills/abilities)

"Unnamed, huh?" The kid stared at the word with pursed lips. "Why am I not surprised?"

In the weeks since he woke up in a back alley, lying atop a dumpster, he had recollected all sorts of information. Definitions for words, how to tie his shoes, and various pop culture information that he found mostly useless in a world where he doubted even ten percent of it was still around. In all that time, he had never actually recalled his name, though. No matter how hard he tried or how many headaches the kid gave himself trying to think about it, all he could get were clues like the number of letters that made it up or what the first letter of it could have been. Even with those tidbits to help him, every name he could think up just didn't seem to match exactly with what he felt his name should be.

Deciding to get back to that later, the boy shook his head and refocused as he glanced through his stats rather quickly. On the whole, he was well aware of what the shortened words next to each stat meant, but couldn't help himself from pausing on each one with a hesitant look on his face. Unsure of what the numbers actually meant, he didn't have much of an idea as to what he could do with them as opposed to adding his two remaining points somewhere they could actually be useful.

The kid found himself frowning at the odd asterisks and the bolded numbers next to some of his stats as he continued down the list. Man, that sucks. So, because I'm hungry, I'm not as strong as I should be. He raised his hand, laying it on top of his stomach and patted it softly. I don't even feel that hungry, though, so why am I malnourished? With a shake of his head, he moved on, returning back to the spot where his name should have been. Staring at the spot intensely for a few moments, his frown only grew even more pronounced. So, is that it? I'm officially nameless.

As the thought passed through his head, another text box appeared in front of him. "What the-" The boy flinched slightly at the sudden materialization only to pause, his eyes widening slightly as he read the notification.

CREATE NAME?

I can change my name? Yes! The boy brought his arm up in a celebratory fist-pump only to pause again, noticing something off." Wait… I didn't say anything, though?" Does this thing respond to my thoughts too?

CREATE NAME?

He narrowed his eyes. ...Yes.

ANNOUNCE NAME

Well, thinking out loud works. Nice. His lips twitched upwards in a slight smile. "Now, about the name…" His name had been eluding him for a while, slipping out of his mental grip every single time he tried to think about it. He knew his first name had seven letters and that it started with an "E", and that his surname had nine letters and began with an "A". Other than the fact that his middle name began with "P" as well, that's all he could manage to remember. I still have to pick a name, though. Can't just call myself "me".

"Let's go with… Ezekiel Patrick Armstrong." Now, that just sounded weird in his head.

FINALIZE CHOICE?

"Yeah. Finalize choice, I guess."

NAME CHOSEN

The newly-christened Ezekiel Patrick Armstrong let out a sigh, shrugging as he mulled over his new name. It may not sound right but it's all I've got at this point. Might as well. A moment later, he sat up in surprise, jarred to attention as a hissing sound came from his door, the glass entrance slowly sliding open.

What. The. Hell?

Ezekiel stared at the imposing figure that entered the hospital room, his visage sending a slight chill down the back of his neck.

Clad in silvery metal, every inch of the man shone under the fluorescent lights, his muscles rippling in plain view. His movements were wholly organic and natural, so much so that it was confusing to watch as Ezekiel's mind told him that metal just shouldn't move like that. Human features like that seemed to scream of an organic origin, yet his appearance sculpted in metal stated otherwise. It was an odd mix that just stopped on the wrong side of unsettling and left Ezekiel feeling entirely uncomfortable.

The boy shivered slightly, trying to push away the idea of how inhuman the figure came off in place of what he actually looked like. Strangely enough, the metal man wasn't silver all over. His forearms and lower legs broke up the constant chrome with a red design that played with the idea of clothing for a body that was decent enough not to need it.

Ezekiel pulled himself from his thoughts as the man came to a stop by his bedside and stared up at the metal colossus glancing down at him with glowing white eyes.

He gulped. "Uhh… Hello."

"Hello, young man." The voice that rang out from the silver super was rather calm and level, a far cry from the deep rumble he expected. "My name is Captain Atom."

Captain Atom. He remembered that name. Not just the name, the character too. Ezekiel gulped again, his fingers gripping the bed sheets as he stared at the imposing being in front of him, bulging muscles bedecked in chrome. This was a man that could fight a Kryptonian on even grounds, a living weapon of mass destruction. All he knew of him was what little he remembered, his thoughts filled with images of the silver superhuman trying to kill Batman and Superman under Luthor's orders. But Lex Luthor isn't President. So… maybe, I'm not being conscripted or anything. Hopefully.

He gulped slightly, not eager to be forced into any mandatory superhuman army or anything. He respected Lex Luthor - Hell, he was a fan of the bald businessman -as he was one of the few unpowered people in the comics whose name meant something, but he really didn't want to have to fight for a supervillain or anything.

"Ezekiel… sir," he added the word as a rushed afterthought, a slight feeling of nervousness rising in his stomach as he stared at the unnatural-looking man. The superhero's severe face tightened slightly, glowing eyes staring down at him in a way that made him want to gulp.

The young man flinched a little as the Captain tilted his head, still a little put off by the idea of a what looked like an adonis sculpted out of steel just walking around. Doing his best not to look away from the Captain's gaze, he asked the question that he assumed the hero expected to hear from him. "You're with the Justice League, right?"

"That's right, son."

"How come you're… uh, here then?"

Atom nodded. "I'm just here to speak with you."

"Me?" Ezekiel blinked, his mouth falling slightly open. "Me, specifically?" As Captain Atom nodded again, the teenager felt rather out of sorts, wondering what he could have done to attract League attention already. "... why?"

"It's about your actions earlier this morning." Atom's arms rose, meeting themselves across his chest as he continued to stare down at the boy in bed. "Son, what you did was impulsive, reckless and dangerous. Brave, but dangerous."

Okay, I get it. It was dumb. You didn't need to come here and tell me that. Ezekiel thought with a wince, taking the admonishment as best as he could as he fought back the urge to snap defensively. Despite the fact that he didn't like getting lectured, he couldn't deny the words coming out of the superhero's mouth had some truth to it.

"Even then," The metallic man paused, his hardened expression turning into something a little less imposing as he leaned in slightly, "That doesn't take away from the fact that you did what you did to help someone. That says a great deal about you." Atom nodded again. "I spoke to the people at the scene, including the lady who was attacked and stolen from. She told me about you and about what you did for her. I have to admit, I was impressed."

Impressed? How? Ezekiel blinked as he stared up at the Captain, unsure of what exactly the hero meant. "But I barely even did anything. What's all that impressive about passing out?"

"Your heart was in the right place, son."

That sounds pretty lame, but sure, okay. "Thank you… sir, but…" the boy frowned, unsure if he should really say what he had on his mind. Deciding to go for broke, he opened his mouth once more. "I still don't understand why you're… you know, here for me."

"Well," Captain Atom's expression shifted slightly, the smooth metallic luster of his skin making it near impossible to actually determine the meaning of the subtle expression on his face. "I said you were brave and while what you did out there was not smart, it was good. That wasn't a lie. With a little experience, I believe you could do even more good work and with the..."

Oh. My. God. Ezekiel's mind shuddered to a halt, the young teen's jaw slackening as he realized what the hero was leading up to. This is not happening. The idea of going out and fighting crime was not all that appealing, considering the fact that a single mugger was enough to tire him out to the point of unconsciousness. Still, the only other option was remaining Level 1 in a world with mad scientists, evil clowns and demon gods running around.

With that in mind, there was only one correct answer.

"I'll do it, sir." The eager grin on his face strained his muscles, but he wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass him by. "I'll be your sidekick."

"...League has set a stan-" Captain Atom paused mid-sentence, his face taking on a clearly puzzled expression at the excited interruption. "Well... are you sure about this? Are you sure about this, son? It's not a choice you can make lightly."

"I understand, sir." Ezekiel didn't let the grin fade as he stared up into a pair of glowing white eyes. "I'm doing this because… well, I want to help people." I don't want to die.

"I want to improve myself." I really don't want to die. "To be somebody, like you and Superman." Being rich and famous wouldn't hurt, either. "Besides, who wouldn't want to be part of the Justice League?" Also, I can't spend money if I'm dead.

"Well," Atom's expression shifted into a recognizable smile and he unfurled his arms from his chest, sticking a red-painted hand out for Ezekiel to shake. "Looks like you've made up your mind."

The teen placed his hand inside Captain Atom's much larger palm, marvelling for a moment at how warm the metal surrounding him felt - almost like skin - before shaking it up and down. "Yes, sir."

"Still, it's not exactly up to you alone." Atom's arms dropped down to his sides as his smile faded away. "I'll have to bring this up with your parents first. Abilities or not, they're still in charge of your wellbeing."

Crap. Ezekiel winced, letting out a low hiss. "That's not really going to work out, sir."

"And, why is that?"

"Well," he winced again, unsure of what he could actually say here that wouldn't make him sound completely crazy, "There isn't much I can remember about my life. At least before last month. If I had parents, I… um, really don't think you'll be able to find them."

Atom frowned, the look on his face less severe than it usually seemed to be. "I understand why you think that might be hopeless. Sometimes, it does feel like that. Still, there's a lot that the League can do to help."

"I don't want to be rude, Mr. Atom, sir," Ezekiel let out a soft sigh as he closed his eyes for a moment, "but it kind of is."

Captain Atom continued speaking, not even acknowledging Ezekiel's attempt to disagree. "The Justice League has a lot of great minds working with us, and with our resources, we should be able to find your family without much of a problem."

Let's just get this out of the way, then. The young boy averted his eyes, dropping his gaze from Captain Atom's as he continued pawing away at his bed covers. "The Justice League might be good but I don't think they can find something that doesn't actually exist."

There was a pregnant silence between the two of them, Ezekiel's last statement confusing the superhero enough that he almost couldn't find the words.

"...Pardon?"

"I'd like to hear more on that as well."

"What th-"Ezekiel started, heart nearly stopping as a gruff voice announced the presence of another person. The kid slowly turned his head to face the other side of the room, eyes widening as he spotted the dark figure standing right next to a closed window.

Blank white eyes stared out at him from beneath a dark cowl, the jet-black bat symbol on the man's chest telling the teen everything he needed to know.

Ezekiel scrambled backwards off the bed, nearly diving into Captain Atom's silver body as another chill went down his back for the second time that day, this time from raw fear. Even then, he couldn't stop himself from doing what came naturally.

Which was to scream at the top of his lungs.