Morning in New York was as busy as it always was. People walked busily past one another, barely giving each other any attention. The streets were predictably flooded with traffic, the air filled with the sounds of honking horns and angry shouts. It was just a typical day for anyone who lived in the Big Apple.

In one apartment, a fifteen-year-old young man by the name of Hunter Phillips stretched as he woke up, courtesy of his blaring alarm clock. He turned the device off and climbed out of bed and left his bedroom, heading to the kitchen to get breakfast. There, he found his mother at the kitchen table having breakfast as well. "Good morning, Hunter," she greeted as she finished a simple bowl of cereal. "I hope you slept well. You've got a big day ahead of you."

"I know, Mom," Hunter replied as he took a box of cereal from a nearby cabinet and began eating the cereal right out of the box. He ate quickly and immediately headed back to his room to get dressed in a dark red t-shirt and a pair of faded black pants, then ran to the bathroom, where he combed out his unruly brown hair and brushed his teeth. He ran back out and grabbed his backpack that leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door. "See ya!" he called to his mother as he left in a rush.

His mother chuckled at this with an amused shake of her head. "That boy," she said. "Just like his father."

Hunter hurried down the steps in the complex and exited the building to arrive in the always crowded streets of New York. He sprinted to the nearest bus stop, where bus was conveniently already waiting as passengers climbed aboard. He boarded the bus and took the closest available seat and waited as a few others climbed on. Soon, the large vehicle was on its way, buildings zooming by as it moved forward. He leaned towards the window, looking out at the people who were walking around on the sidewalk, everyone apparently having their own business to attend to. He even saw one guy dressed in a black trench coat with a bizarre skull on the front of his shirt walking by. The dude looked like he was ready to kill someone. It was far from the weirdest thing he'd ever seen, but it was enough to catch his attention for the split-second that he could see the man.

-o-

The bus had dropped him off about two blocks from his school, but that was no big deal to him. He'd walked much farther than that before, and was okay with walking that distance. He eventually set foot on campus, a crowd of fellow students and a few teachers waiting in front of the school for the bell to ring. He merged into the crowd and sat down by the decorative fountain that was in the center of the schoolyard. There he waited for his only actual friend to arrive. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long.

"Good morning, Hunter!" called the voice of the girl who had been his closest friend since third grade. Sarah Blake came over to him in a light jog, her dirty blonde hair bouncing with each step she took. She had on a plain white sleeveless shirt that revealed a little bit of her midriff and a simple pair of blue jeans. She had her favorite bright red knapsack slung over her shoulder, the bag looking like it had been overstuffed with her school supplies, as per the norm for her.

"Good morning," he replied with a casual wave.

Sarah sat next to him with a big grin on her face. "I'm so excited for today!" she proclaimed with complete giddiness. This was understandable, considering how excitable she is. Not only that, but she was pretty much a human dynamo, never seeming to run out of energy, which was perfect for her role in the school's gymnastics team. "I mean, how often is it that anybody gets to visit a new scientific research facility?" she continued. "I'm so excited I can't even remember the name of the place!"

"I think it's Prometheus Labs or something," Hunter said in reply, giving an amused smirk at his friend's eagerness. He was about to tell her to calm down when the bell suddenly rang, signaling the official beginning of the school day. He shrugged and stood from the concrete ground. "That's our cue I guess. Let's go. See you on the bus."

"You got it," Sarah replied as she and Hunter headed into school, soon parting ways in the school's hallway.

Once he arrived in his homeroom class, hunter took his seat near the front, the seat closest to the door, and waited for the announcement for whoever was signed up for it to go out and board the bus to Prometheus Labs. He didn't know much about the place, only that they were working on some kind of weird new energy source, the name of which he couldn't seem to remember at the time. Oh well. It'll come back to him eventually.

-o-

It had been about an hour-long ride, but they were finally there, standing before the multi-story building that had the words "Prometheus Labs" right on the front of the structure. The building was intimidatingly tall, but not quite as tall as most other skyscrapers in the city. Hunter simply raised an eyebrow at it. He wasn't really all that impressed just yet. He'd have to see the inside to really give his full opinion.

Sarah, on the other hand, was in awe. She beamed at the building, clearly ready to explore. "Oh, man, I can't wait!" she said. "This place looks awesome!"

"We'll see, I guess," Hunter replied. Sarah frowned at him as most of the other students followed the teachers and chaperones. "What?" he asked, following the group of fellow teens.

Sarah followed as well and said, "You could at least be a little thrilled," she explained. "This place was finished up a few months ago, and now they're researching a new source of energy that could revolutionize the whole world! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"So is being born," Hunter said, earning him a soft glare from his friend. He smirked at her and said, "Hey, if they show something awesome, I'll admit that this place is pretty cool. Until then, I'm just gonna stay indifferent."

Sarah sighed, but giggled a little. "Well, here's hoping."

As they entered the building, their group was greeted by a single scientist, a man wearing a typical white lab coat and what was apparently the uniform of people who worked at the labs. He wore a pair of dorky glasses and had messy dark hair that looked more like a rat's nest than anything else. He had an eager look on his face that just screamed "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Hello, kids," he greeted happily. "I'm Professor Ronald Walker, head of the research into the newest form of recently discovered energy known as meta-fusion. I'll be your guide for today, so stick close, all right?" After that, he went into how the schedule would work: they were to first go to the research labs where they were studying the new energy source, which was one of the only reasons why Prometheus Labs was founded in the first place, then they would take a break in the mess hall, where they would have lunch, and then they would be guided through the rest of the facility until it was time to leave. Once he was done with that, Prof. Walker led the group to the labs.

He led them to a high-tech door that apparently required an ID card to access. He quickly and efficiently swiped his own employee card through a scanner. The door opened automatically, and he ushered the class in. "These labs are our pride and joy," Walker began as he returned to the front and again took the lead, pointing out a number of other scientists and machines that were handling smaller devices with the utmost care. "Here, we study meta-fusion and all possible benefits it may have for the world."

A student raised his hand. Walker nodded to him. "What's meta-fusion anyway?" the student asked.

"That's a very good question," Walker stated. "Meta-fusion is what happens when one fuses fused molecules together. Standard fusion alone crates a large burst of energy, but upon fusing the fused, it creates an even larger supply of power that lasts significantly longer, and, theoretically, endlessly recycles itself, potentially making it the greatest hope this world has for ending the energy crisis."

"What about radiation?" Hunter asked curiously. "Doesn't fusion cause a bunch of radioactive waves or something?"

The professor grinned. "That's the amazing part," he said. "We've detected no traceable amounts of radiation of any kind caused by standard fusion. As far as we know, Meta-fusion is the cleanest form of natural energy that we've ever discovered." He pointed back to a large, metal door. "That room contains a generator that was developed to give us an ample supply of meta-fusion to study and test. It's specially designed to handle the unique properties of meta-fusion. It's a precaution in case it turns out to be dangerous to living things." He faced the group again. "Would you all like a close up look?"

He didn't wait for a yes or a no. He opened the door to the generator's room and led them all inside. There was a tall, muscular, gray-haired man mopping the floor nearby, his expression almost void of emotion as he kept up his monotonous task. Hunter couldn't help but notice Walker's nervous glance over at the janitor, but paid it little heed. Walker approached the machine and started to go into more detail about it, but Hunter didn't quite catch all of it. He eyed the janitor in the room. There was just something… off about the guy. He was virtually impossible to read, which put Hunter on edge.

"-and we've been working to improve its output of power since then," Walker said after several minutes, Hunter's attention drawn back to the machine. "Now then, let's move on, shall we?" That said, he headed for the exit, most of the students, teachers, and chaperones following. Both Hunter and Sarah were still focused on the machine. A monitor on the generator suddenly started flashing red, the word "ERROR" blinking in bright orange letters.

Eyes wide, both friends shouted, "Professor!" Immediately, Walker turned, his attention instantly falling on the generator. He gawked at the generator's monitor for a split-second, then sprinted over to it. He flicked a switch on the large machine, which activated a keyboard that slid out of a slot of the machine. He rapidly typed away on it. His eyes went wide after about two seconds of this.

"Th-that's impossible!" he exclaimed in horror. "It's overloading! It's going to blow!" At that, most of the non-employees panicked and fled the room. Even Walker and the janitor fled in a hurry. Walker quickly slid his ID card through the scanner by the door, which slammed shut and locked tight. Relieved somewhat, Walker said, "We should be safe out here. Is everyone okay?"

There were no complaints. Until Sarah Blake noticed one important detail. "Wait. Where's Hunter!?" Everyone's attention immediately went to the sealed door. "Oh no…"

Hunter got up from the floor, rubbing his face in slight pain. He had been knocked over by some idiot who was rushing out of the room, and had landed face-first on the hard metal ground. He stood and headed for the door, but froze when he saw that the door had already been closed. He sprinted to the door and pounded on with his fists. "Hey! Open the door! I'm still in here!"

He heard a heavy warning sound blaring from the meta-fusion generator, the monitor flashing far more sporadically now. Suddenly, the door opened… just as the machine exploded, wave after wave after wave of sky blue energy flooding the generator's room, and some of it pouring out into the hallway. Hunter had no protection from the energy. He was blown back out of the room, slamming into the wall and landing back on the floor, unmoving.

Everyone had run off to avoid getting blasted themselves, except for Sarah, who sprinted over to her unconscious friends. She shook him roughly, saying, "Hunter! Hunter, wake up! Please don't be dead!" She kept shaking him her eyes began to well up with tears. Her best friend couldn't be dead! "Hunter, if you're dead, I swear to God, when I get to heaven, I'm going to kick your ass!" He made no response.

Prof. Walker ran over and knelt over the boy, pressing his fingers on Hunter's neck. A second later, he gave a relieved sigh and said, "He's alive." Sarah looked up at him with wide eyes. "But he was just exposed to massive levels of meta-fusion. It's a miracle that he wasn't hit by any shrapnel, but there's no telling what kind of effects the energy may have on him. We need to call an ambulance, fast."

"Make it two!" a student shouted. "That janitor guy looks like he got hit by that stuff, too!" Walker turned and saw that the student had told the truth. The gray-haired man was sprawled out on the ground, limp and motionless.

He cursed under his breath and said, "Someone make the call now!"

Without hesitating a moment longer, Sarah pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and quickly dialed the number. Hunter Phillips wasn't going to die any time soon.

-o-

He was in darkness. He could barely hear anything, all sounds seemingly muffled by something. It sounded like someone was crying. He could just make out someone calling his name. It sounded familiar. It was female. It was voice he heard a lot of. Slowly, his eyes opened, bright, white light flooding his vision as he did. He saw a silhouette hovering over him. He squinted slightly as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

When his vision was finally clear, he saw his mother staring at him, her cheeks red and puffy, as though she had been crying nonstop. When she saw that his eyes were opened, she immediately caught him in a bear hug. "Oh, thank God!" she cried out, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. "I thought I'd lost you! Don't ever make me worry like that again!"

"Mom?" he asked groggily, almost feeling crushed by his mother's arms. "What happened? Where am I?"

A doctor who had been standing in the room approached with a clipboard in hand. He flipped through the pages on the board and said, "You were caught in an accident at Prometheus Labs. You've unconscious for three whole days now."

"Three days?" Hunter asked as his mother released him. She still left her hand on his shoulder, as if afraid he might suddenly disappear. He groaned slightly at that. "I can only imagine the make-up work I'll have to do for school. Don't tell that I have cancer, too."

The doctor chuckled lightly at the boy's joke. "No. You're perfectly healthy. We did notice that your skin seems to have gotten a little tougher though. When we tried hooking you up to an IV yesterday, we actually needed to make an incision with a scalpel, and even that required a good bit of effort. Needles simply weren't sharp enough to get through. Prof. Walker said that it may be a side effect of all the meta-fusion that you were exposed to in the accident."

"Prof. Walker?"

His mother huffed at the name. "If you ask me, that man deserves to be flogged! My son was nearly killed that day!"

"And Prometheus Labs will be more than happy to compensate for that," said a man's voice. All eyes turned to Prof. Ronald Walker, who had just entered the room, wearing formal business attire. He walked in, Mrs. Phillips eyeing him angrily, and took a seat near Hunter's bed. "I came here to ask the doctor if you had woken up yet. It's good to know that you're not dead."

"I hope you're happy," Hunter's mother said with a deep scowl. "Your machine could've my son, and any of those other children! If you ask me, your whole lab should be shut down!"

Walker waved his hand in a motion that he must've thought would tell her to calm down. "We're very sorry about that. Nobody knows how the generator malfunctioned, but rest assured, we'll find out what happened. We'll also pay for all medical expenses." He reached into his pocket then and handed Mrs. Phillips a card. "Lastly, if you notice anything strange happening with your son, please call us. We have yet to know what happens when a human is exposed to meta-fusion, so please, don't hesitate to ring me up if something out of the ordinary occurs."

Hunter's mother glared at the man, then looked down at the card, which she reluctantly accepted and stored away in her own pocket. Walker then focused his attention onto Hunter. "Before I go, I feel inclined to ask; how do you feel right now, young man?"

"What do you mean?" Hunter replied.

"Do you feel strange?" Walker continued. "Anything feel off in your body?"

"Not really."

"I see." After a few seconds, Walker stood and made to leave the room.

"Hang on," Hunter called after the man. The scientist stopped and faced the teenager. "Was anyone else hurt?"

The professor stopped to think about that for a moment. "Only one other person was rendered unconscious by the blast, if that's what you're asking. Frank Carlson, the janitor who was there at the time. He has yet to wake up though. Why?"

Hunter sighed in relief. "I just wanted to make sure nobody that I knew was hurt." Walker nodded at that before finally leaving the room. After a few moments of silence, Hunter asked, "Am I good to leave?"

The doctor put his hand to his chin and said, "Well, all tests have shown that you're in good shape. We'll release you in about an hour." Hunter and his mother both nodded to that, and the doctor left the room, leaving the two to themselves. Hunter laid back a little and decided to just wait as his mother began telling him how happy she was that he was alive, and how he'd have a lot of work to do to catch up in school. It was all very thrilling.

-o-

The next day, he woke up in his bed at the apartment, which he found himself more grateful for after being in a hospital room. He quickly went through his usual morning routine, told his mother goodbye, and left for school. The streets were as busy as always, people running by, paying little mind to their surroundings. Hunter walked down his normal route to the nearest bus stop, but stopped when he heard someone shouting in an alley.

He looked down into the alley, and his eyes went wide when he saw some thug beating the crap out of some guy who looked like he had just left home for work. The thug looked ready to kill the guy. "I said hand over your money!" the thug shouted as he kicked the man while he was down.

Hunter, not thinking the whole thing through, immediately ran into the alley faster than he had ever moved before and tackled the thug to the ground. "Go!" he shouted to the man, who was either too beat up or too dumbfounded to respond. Hunter focused on the crook, who had managed to knock the boy off and draw out a knife.

"You're gonna regret that, you little brat!" the criminal shouted as he charged at him, looking ready to kill. Acting on instinct, Hunter jumped to the side and threw a punch at the thug's face with as much force as he could muster. The result was the crook being sent flying into a wall over thirty feet away and ending up stuck there, his face looking as though he had been hit by a Mack truck rather than a teenage boy's fist. Hunter stared in shock at this for a moment, then at his hand.

"Whoa," he muttered before turning to look at the man that he had just rescued. The man looked just as bewildered as Hunter himself. The man then got up, muttered what might've been a hastened "thank you" and ran off leaving the brown-haired young man to himself. Hunter gave one last look to the thug in the wall. People were already apparently freaking out, and some were already dialing rapidly on their cell phones, probably the police and the hospital. He decided that now might be a good time to leave.

-o-

Prof. Walker had just left home, and was now visiting the hospital to check on Frank, who apparently hadn't woken up yet. He stood by the unconscious man's bed, the only other person in the room being a doctor who was currently examining a few test results. "When do you think he'll wake up?" Walker asked, breaking the silence.

The doctor shrugged. "Hard to say," he said. "You said it yourself: nobody knows what effects meta-fusion might have on a living human. God only knows when he'll be ready to walk around again."

"It's not him walking that has me worried," Walker stated vaguely. The doctor raised an eyebrow at this. Taking the hint, Walker said, "Let's just say that he's… never exactly been normal. Call us when he wakes up please." With that, he left the room without another word, leaving the doctor to scratch his head in confusion and stare at Frank Carlson with some nervousness. What had Walker meant by the man "never exactly being normal?" He had no idea, but he silently hoped he wouldn't be around when the burly, gray-haired man woke up.