He was lying flat on his stomach. His head felt like exploding and it was freezing cold in the room he was in now. He barely could move his limbs and he had trouble with staying awake. He had to fight this feeling. It was the only way of surviving.
Of surviving, what?
His brain was still numb and he had trouble processing and remembering details about the events before he passed out. No, before he was knocked out. No, before he fell asleep. He didn't really remember, but it wasn't too good.
He tried to recall what happened last night. He was walking down the streets of some American city. He barely came to Earth, only to stop some crimes and to visit his good friend Skylar. At home, on Caldera, he had a girlfriend. He never could stay too long. That's all he got.
Emily… he moved his arms, slowly, carefully, and tried to push himself up. He needed to leave. Now. He was never late at home. Never. He remembered something else as he pushed himself up; there should be more strength in his arms than he now had. Eventually, he did succeed in getting up and only then he opened his eyes.
He let his eyes slid over the small room. It was a simple one, really. It had only a bed and a closed window. Whoever put him here didn't bother to drop him on the bed. There was a closed metal door, and the room itself couldn't be bigger than four meters on four. The smell was unbearable, but he'd be gone here in no-time. Whoever was holding him here didn't know the strength of this Calderan boy. There might not be a lamp in this room, but through the window shone light.
He tried to stand on his feet, in which he succeeded. Then, focusing on the door, he extended his arm to it. All of his concentration was focused on the metal door, trying to make it move. But, it didn't. He tried harder and harder, but it wouldn't budge. Even when just pulling it didn't help; he just lost all of his powers.
He started to panic. He couldn't have lost his powers. No way. He tried out more, but none of his powers really worked. Even flying, a standard ability and one of the first he mastered, was too hard for him. Feeling defeated, he sat down on the bed in the room and hugged his knees. This was just a bad dream. There wasn't any other explanation. This was just a nightmare; he was at home, lying next to Emily, waiting for a new day to begin.
He closed his eyes, and opened them after a few minutes. He still was locked up in this dark smelly room.
He almost started to cry. This can't be true. No, this can't be true. He repeated those words the entire time, but he didn't dare to speak those words out loud. He didn't know who could listen to whatever he said. And he didn't want them, whoever they were, to know how weak and pathetic he now was. If they even knew he was in there. He was also scared. It wasn't usual for him to feel scared, but this time he was nothing but terrified of the future. What would they with him? How could it be possible his powers were gone? Emily… how was she doing? At least she should've noticed something was wrong. She'd know he was in trouble…
The door opened and it cracked. It hadn't been used in a long time. Experion didn't bother to look up, but he did stay on the bed. He didn't want to know who was keeping him here. Yet, he was curious and eventually he looked. One second later, he wished he hadn't. The man in front of him wore an all-black costume, complete with black helmet and black cannon. He wasn't sure how, but the Annihilator, his best friend's nemesis, was involved which gave him more reason to be afraid.
"Experion…" the villain said, "Welcome." Experion shrugged it off, staring at the mask, where he thought the villain's eyes should be.
"What'd you do to me?" his memories of last night came back. He was just walking down the street, taking his time to get to the Mighty Med. But before he could get there, he was hit by something and was knocked out cold. He had been in this stupid room for at least twelve hours. He didn't come back, it was too late. Emily had already warned Skylar Storm that Experion still hadn't returned. Sooner or later, his old friend would arrive and save him from this mess. But first he had to distract the villain, buy Storm some time.
"What do you think?" The Annihilator asked this rhetorical question. "I knocked you out, stole your powers and brought you here." He placed a tube on the ground. The tube had a deep red color – no, the substance in the tube had a deep red color. Experion stared at them, in disbelief.
"What is that?" he asked and the Annihilator sighed.
"Those are your powers, genius." Experion's eyes widened. In that tube, in that small tube, were his powers. The Annihilator stole them. Off course! He should've known. He keeps the powers of the superheroes as a trophy, also if said superheroes were long dead. It was a sick and twisted hobby, but annihilating someone was just a bit worse.
He almost stood up to go get them, but he changed his mind at the very last second. There had to be a catch. There was no other way. Why else would the Annihilator just place his powers on the ground, right where he could grab the tube, open it and beat the Annihilator before he even could blink? He wanted to look like he didn't doubt and just tried to ignore it, but the Annihilator did catch the interest the boy had for his powers. He grinned. This could get far more interesting.
"Take them," he just said, "or else she might die." This caught Experion's attention and the young hero turned his head to his best friend's nemesis.
"Who?" he asked, once again scared. He already feared the worst and he prayed Skylar was strong enough not to die today, or not die at all. Poor Skylar…
He felt rage build up in him. He had sworn to protect Emily and Skylar ever since a villain came to Caldera (not the Annihilator) and almost killed both girls. He had to do everything to protect them. There was no other way. But if he was in here and Skylar could die today, who would protect Emily? Or this girl the Annihilator was talking about, what if it was Emily? He couldn't just sit there and do nothing. He was Experion, damn it! He should be able to take this freak and rescue them! It was his plight! It was his duty as a hero and as a friend/boyfriend!
As quickly as possible, he jumped up and stretched his arm to grab the tube. Yet, the cannon came first. It didn't fire anything at the boy, but just hitting him with it did do some damage as well. He flew back and hit the metal of the bed. It hurt. It wasn't supposed to hurt as much as it did now! He opened his eyes and the Annihilator stood there, arms crossed and legs spread. The tube was still at the other side of the room.
He got up and dived between the legs of the Annihilator. It was the only route the villain hadn't expected and it brought Experion to the other side of the room unharmed. The Annihilator now had to turn around to get back to beating Experion, but he was too late; the hands of the hero had closed around the tube and without hesitating he opened the tube. The deep red substance flew through the air, circling around the Calderan boy, only to hit him softly, returning his powers to him. The Annihilator could only watch as the Calderan retrieved the powers he lost the night before.
Experion raised his hand and pointed with his palm at the bed, right behind the Annihilator. With a little concentration, he pulled the bed to him. He hit the villain in the process, and the metal – still attracting him – slowly bended and closed in on the Annihilator. Experion laughed – he had no idea why he would laugh, but he felt good. With a little more 'metal bending' using his magnetism, he bound the villain with the metal pieces of the bed in this room.
I am free! He thought, I can get out of here! But first… He turned back to the Annihilator, focusing his attention on the bad guy instead of the door that would lead him out of this place. "Let's see how you really look like. I bet you're not even half as scary as they say you are." He reached his hands to the helmet of the villain, but stopped in his tracks as something twisted in his stomach and his head seemed to explode. He had no idea what was happening, and his head hurt so much that falling into a volcano felt like just a pleasant dive.
He brought his hands to his head, which twisted to a lot of ways. Why couldn't he just keep his head still? He bit his lips, not to scream in pain. Yet, it was over as soon as it started, and Experion removed his hands from his head.
There was no pain. And there was no emotion either. He lifted his head and saw one of the greatest villains in the universe, the Annihilator, standing in front of him. Experion now couldn't look away from this man he would try to follow… wait, what? As he scanned his brain, he found nothing but all evil thoughts and the sudden urge to do something bad, like robbing a bank or destroying a building. He knew he was new at this, he knew he was just a rookie. And this man, the Annihilator, could teach him a lot about being a villain. The Annihilator smiled.
"How do you feel?" he asked. Experion shrugged.
"I feel…" the Calderan hesitated, "I feel like need to follow your orders and do something evil." the villain grinned.
"Perfect," he said, "Before you truly can do something evil; do you care about the fate of this girl?" he pulled a picture out of a hidden pocket and handed it over to Experion. For some reason, he knew her. It was a picture of the Annihilator's nemesis, Skylar Storm. No, wait… it wasn't Skylar Storm; it was a girl who looked a lot like Skylar Storm. And soon, he also remembered her name. Emily. The girl on the picture was Emily. He vaguely remembered he and her were more than just friends…
He destroyed the picture in his hands and looked back at the Annihilator. "I don't care what happens to her." The Annihilator nodded. My experiment has succeeded! He thought, though none of this happiness (for as far as the Annihilator could be happy) reached his new servant.
"Then I will destroy her," he said, "and you will do as I say. Go to the hospital, the super-secret hero hospital named Mighty Med. Skylar Storm is there. You need to bring her to me. Do not worry about her beating you; she has lost all of her powers. You will bring her to this place."
Experion smirked. "I thought you'd never ask." And he left the building, going to the hospital, all ready to bring Skylar Storm to the Annihilator so she could be destroyed and his master wouldn't need to wait any longer to see her dead. It would be his big villain debut. It would be awesome.
A small voice in the back of his head whispered to him this was bad news.
And here I am again with a new one-shot that might become a two-shot. This is just how I imagine Experion joining forces with the Annihilator. You could consider this as me trying to say 'happy new year!' with a small gift along the way. I might add a second chapter, but that's still up to debate. Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it.
Happy new year!
-Writer207