Jeremy stared at the screen in front of him, frantic lines of code running down it, constantly changing and altering. He blinked. Everything went so wrong. The wind and rain from the storm buffeted him and he kept pushing his wet hair out of his face. What were the chances of this? The chances that he would be touching it the moment that the lightning struck the electronics? The teen kept going over the scene in his mind.

The pained screams, the terrifying shocks of electricity, the way he had gazed up at Jeremy, as if pleading for him to help, for him to get it to stop. He couldn't. He could only stand and watch as his best friend disappeared before his eyes, dissolving into small groups of pixels, ceasing to exist as if he'd never even been there in there in the first place.

All the teen could hear was ringing, and that warped, terrifying screen. Black and green black and green and black and green and that's all he saw. He couldn't even feel his friends grabbing his arms and pulling him away, panicked shouts coming from behind him as he stood, frozen in spot. Nothing was processing. Nothing was right.

Everything was wrong. Everything went wrong. Michael Mell was gone.

—

"Jeremy!" Michael yelled, calling his friend over to their lunch table. The cafeteria was usually fairly full by this point, other teens crowding around to get their food and move over to sit by their friends. He was instantly nudged in the side by the boy sitting next to him.

"What, you bringin' Mr. Punkman over here, dude?" He snorted, looking up at Michael with a snort. Rich was a pretty great dude, even if he's usually thought of as a bully and shit. When you really get to know him, he'll be one of the best friends you could ever have. Quickly, Michael retorted with an equal smirk, saying, "So you're tellin' me that you're not Mr. Punkman?" Rich let out a shocked gasp.

"Never! How DARE you accuse me of that!" He yelled, slamming his hands down on the table. "Accuse you of what?" Oh, hey, Jeremy's here now! The boy set down his tray of food and got into the seat across from Michael. Leaning forward, said teen stated, "Bein' a punk, as per usual." The two snickered a bit, while Rich just rolled his eyes, chuckling a bit himself. Even though he had a crush on Michael, it was fairly obvious that Jeremy and Michael were practically meant for each other. Though, they've both never said anything about their feelings for each other. It was so obvious but… Whatever, they're weird, and Rich doesn't feel like questioning the two of them.

Michael leaned back in his seat and he glanced over at the others at the table. They were all working together on a science project. Basically, they were working with the code of reality. Like, they've been setting up the coding of this reality, trying to figure out if it was a possible thing that could be altered. In most timelines, people would think this was insane or just simply impossible. However, in most timelines, superheroes don't exist.

Hell yeah dude, they've got fucking superpowers and shit here! There are villains and heroes, but it's sort of rare to get those powers. Some happen through accidents, some happen through science and technology, and some are just born with it! Plus, there's also the fact that most people actually have some hidden power that they just haven't unlocked yet, and some are also just… stronger than others.

For instance, Jeremy. The teen had the power of light, and with that came emotions. He could easily sense others' emotions and alter them how he wanted, or just, control their emotions in general. Plus, he can just… get people to do what he wants, with the right wording. Seen Jessica Jones? Yeah, he's like Kilgrave. Except nicer and cooler and not a villain.

There are smaller powers, too. Rich, for example, just has really thick skin. Not in the way that he's not affected by insults, but rather he can't be burnt. Fire doesn't hurt him. Well, he also has a harder time actually getting hurt, but whatever. So, other than that, he just works with fire often. He always said that he thought the name 'The Arsonist' was pretty cool.

Other than them, there are a few others in their group with powers. Specifically, ones that they don't really use that often, mainly because they're a bit… Uh, something?

Jake has heightened senses, speed, and strength. Not by much, but still enough to make a fairly big difference in comparison to everyone else. Christine has some healing powers, able to heal any wound within just a few moments. It depends on how bad the wound is though. She's actually pretty cool, and nice… Brooke has some weather powers. Water, electricity, et cetera. She doesn't practice with it often; she's scared of messing up the ACTUAL weather and making everyone hate her. Jenna can see into people's knowledge and unlock things that they know. Pretty good at getting information and interrogating others— Though she doesn't really want to do that. That's like, a villain thing.

Chloe's just good at technology and gathering intel. She has no real powers, but her knowledge and logic alone are enough. Seriously, she completed a calculus math test within 5 minutes. It had 30 questions on it! She is seriously insane. Then there's Michael. Just… Michael Mell. He has no powers. Never have, never will. It makes him unique in comparison to all of his friends, but honestly? He feels like he's just missing out on some bigger picture. It can get kinda depressing… One thing's for certain: Michael's normal and that's all he ever will be. A loser.

Back to the project. They want to see if they can alter reality in any way with the use of lightning and technology. Chloe's been typing up the code for a while, but she's told them that it's practically done. Tonight, there's a storm. Like, a hopefully bad one. They need the lightning. With Brooke's power of weather, she could alter all of it a bit so that the lightning strikes right where it needs to. Christine and Jake made a pylon that attached to the computer they were using, which would hopefully withstand the heat and electricity.

Once the lightning struck the pylon, they were hoping to type in codes to change things. Like, alter the atmosphere and weather and stuff. Kind of like a command console, but for real life. Pretty cool, right? They were all pretty excited to see if it would all work or not. If it did, this could be technology that even the highest ranking superheroes could find useful! Then their group would be famous for discovering it!

Michael was already getting himself hyped, and he smiled to himself, staring off into nothingness. He wouldn't be a loser anymore. He'd be cool and… important and awesome… And everything would be—

"Hey, you hear that?" Jeremy was trying to get his attention now, and with a slight jolt of surprise, Michael turned his head to the other. "No, what?" He responded, tilting his head a bit in confusion. The teen pointed down the table at Chloe, who was looking at him expectantly.

She rolled her eyes and Michael flushed a bit in embarrassment; He zoned out and had missed everything that she'd just went over. Whoopsie. With a sigh, she repeated herself, "So, I've finished the coding for the project. However, there needs to be a person to man the computer. I was wondering if you wanted to be that person." Oh. Woah. "W-Wait, what does that entail?" He'd want to know the details before he actually accepts possibly putting his life at risk. Not that he wasn't fine with the idea of dying, but…

"Well," She started, glancing at Brooke, who was sitting across from her, "It would mean that you have to add your coding to the computer, stand the closest to the computer, and if anything went wrong, we would enter specific coordinates in the code—Those are where you'd appear or end up at."

Nodding, Michael was about to say it was fine by him, but he froze. If anything went wrong? "Uh—What do you mean, 'if anything went wrong'? What could go wrong, exactly?" He asked, tilting his head in confusion and giving a small, nervous smile.

Chloe answered with, "Oh, nothing too bad. You might get shocked by lightning, transported to the digital plane, become a god of sorts, die, or become incredibly digitally fucked up." Then she gave a reassuring smile. Michael just stared.

Leaning away a bit, he glanced at Jeremy. He was looking back at Chloe, mouth curled into a slight grimace. When the teen noticed Michael looking at him expectantly and nervous, he looked back, trying to look hopeful. The guy reached forward a bit, placing a hand on the other's arm lightly. "Hey, Michael, don't worry dude. The chances of any of that happening are like, a 1 in 100 chance."

Michael shook his head and gave a slight, panicked look. "No, no, dude, you don't understand," He stammered, averting his eyes, "You KNOW how bad my luck is. It's like I have a damn curse. If I'm not paying the utmost attention to what I'm doing, something bad WILL happen!" Jeremy just put his hand to the teen's cheek, lifting his head so that they were both looking at each other in the eyes.

"Michael, it's okay. You're going to be just fine," That smile was so believable and soft and… Fuck, okay, fine, he's doing it. "Fuck, okay, fine, I'll do it," He stated, throwing his hands up in surrender and looking back down the table at Chloe. She gave a nod and grinned as she wrote something on the paper in front of her.

Brooke piped in, throwing in the comment to everyone at the table. "Okay, guys! Just remember to meet at the top of the Airspace tower today at 5 so we can set up for the storm tonight! Should be coming around 7 or so." She paused as she gazed around at the others looking at her. Then, she put her hand in the center of the long table. Though he and Jeremy had to lean over pretty far, the two added their hands to the pile and joined into the cheer.

"Reality code, GO!"

—

It was 6:45 PM. Everything was ready to go, and everyone was prepared for the storm. It was already raining, and the brunt of it was getting closer. Michael was… Well, he was pretty fucking terrified. The teen was shaking, and he gulped as he watched the clouds overhead.

Something was going to go wrong today. He just knew it.

With a quick turn, he yelled to Chloe, "Are you sure everything's okay?!" She was just making the final touches on his rescue code, so she was still clacking away on the keyboard of the computer. "Yes! It'll be fine! Remember the passcode?" Chloe responded, turning her head to face Michael, and he quickly racked his brain for the code.

"Blue slushies, ones for the Ls and a hyphen between, all lowercase!" She nodded as he yelled, entering the passcode. That was what would rescue him, in case anything bad were to happen.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, and he jolted, turning to see Jake looking down on him. "Uh…" He started, but the taller teen just gave a small, reassuring smile and said, "Michael, it'll be fine. You don't need to worry." Though he'd usually accept those words without any hesitance, he just couldn't; not now.

"I-Y-Yeah, thanks, Jake…" He mumbled, looking downwards and shrugging lightly. He raised a hand to his arm, rubbing it in nervousness. Michael just couldn't shake that damned feeling. It was lingering there, haunting his mind and causing him to panic under his facade of looking… Panicked. Okay, maybe he doesn't have a facade, he seriously just looks panicked.

The storm was getting closer. The lightning was brighter and the thunder was louder, and everyone was running around checking if things were all set up, as they should be. The sky was so… So gray and black and yellow at the horizon. The Airspace tower was big in itself, too; designed to have direct contact with the sky and any sky forces. The top of it was usually enclosed by a large dome, which could open up and let the roof be completely exposed to the elements, which was… Where it was right now.

Jenna and Christine were holding down some equipment, Jake and Rich were going around and giving motivational support and friendly chatter, just to get people off the edge. Brooke was watching the weather above, eyes closed as she focused in, waiting for the perfect bolt, which would be approaching rather soon.

Jeremy was like Michael, just waiting. Or, maybe, he's using his powers of emotion and trying to calm others. Chloe was watching the code on the computer seeing if it was all correct one final time. So that meant Michael was doing absolutely nothing of importance. Huh. This isn't unusual, haha… Kinda depressing though, how nothing he's doing currently matters that much. Well, then again, all he's doing is panicking. Whatever.

Checking his phone, he saw the time was at 6:54. Almost there… And no problems yet. Maybe it WOULD be okay. Maybe nothing bad would happen. Maybe his gut was just lying to him; it wouldn't be the first time, but… Then again, when WAS the first time? Fuck. Whatever, just… Ignore the feeling and act like everything was okay. It was so not.

Brooke suddenly yelled, "WIND!" Yeah, there was a lot of wind, why is this such an observation—Oh, woah, that's why. There was a huge gust of wind, one that made Michael have to take a step back to hold himself against it. Even then he still felt pushed back a bit, grimacing as he held against it—Plus he had to hold his glasses against his face in a not-uncomfortable way. With a small glance at the others, he felt dread rise in his stomach.

Jenna and Christine were freaking out. The pylon! The pylon was disconnected from the computer, and the connector was about to blow off the end of the building! Shit, it was like a wire, so obviously it was fairly flimsy and loose. 6:57. Oh god, oh god, he had to get that wire.

Though the wind pressed against him, he made his way to the billowing connector, which was near the edge of the roof. If he was pushed… Paling, Michael pushed himself away from that thought and focused on the wire. He needed the perfect moment to grab it… It just wouldn't come close enough! Shit! He'd need to jump. Oh god, he'd need to jump.

The others shouted from in front of him, telling him to stop, asking what he was doing, everything—God, no, just pay attention. Don't let your luck get you. He stared at the wire with squinted eyes, focusing on it. The wind was heavy. He had to be careful. Just… Reach it… Just…

With a small boost, Michael found himself with the wire in his grasp—He smiled, even when his feet hit the roof's edge. The teen felt himself slip a bit, leaning backward slightly, but crouched and propelled himself forward. It was a fight against the wind, but hey! He didn't die! And it was 6:59! Wait. The lightning.

Michael quickly made his way to the computer, connector in hands. Everything was so loud and everyone was standing so close and shouting and he couldn't focus on anyone—He just stared at the computer and plugged in the connector.

As soon as he plugged it in, he heard a yell. He couldn't tell whose voice that was, but he knew what they were talking about. It was like a reaction to the connector. His hand was stuck on the computer and—

The loudest noise he'd ever heard erupted from all around him as his body flared in a white, hot pain, the bolts of electricity coming all around him as he screamed. Everything was burning, his whole body, his mind, his hands, everything hurt.

He couldn't move. He's burning, he's on fire, he's going to die. He can't even hear his own goddamned screams, everything was so loud and everything hurt—And that wasn't the last of it.

Michael FELT himself just fading away from existence, a pixelation coming over his whole body as he screamed in agony, never stopping. Slowly but surely, he was disappearing. Everything hurt. Everything BURNED. This was nothing he'd ever experienced; it flared inside of him and all he could feel was misery and fire in it's highest form.

Then it was black. No one could say exactly what happened. He was gone. Just… gone.

And there wouldn't be a way to get him back.

Because there was someone else they saved instead; someone they'd never wanted to see again.

Once he saw the opportunity, he took it, not even bothering with the person who'd just entered the digital plane. Sure, he wondered for a split second if he saw him, but that wasn't of any importance right now. Freedom was the only thing he wanted. Freedom was the only thing he needed.

With a small smile of pure joy, he exited. It was nothing like what he'd expected, nothing like what happened when he almost died. They'd never be able to get rid of him that easily. Jeremy would never be able to get rid of him that easily.

Quickly glancing back before entirely exiting the digital plane, he stared back at the boy that just came through. Though he couldn't hear him, being unconscious and all, he whispered in a devious tone,

"Goodbye, Michael Mell, and welcome to the real world, Squip."

—

uAGH OKAY SO. Yeah I thought this would be a cool idea to write, an AU and all... I HAVE DESIGNS FOR THE HEROES AND VILLAINS IN MIND! I will work on references for those soon enough! In the meantime, I really hope you guys like this idea! I'll actually try to keep this one updated and the like! :D Have a nice day!

This has also been uploaded onto AO3, at: [ao3]/works/12345828/chapters/28079313

My personal tumblr is dreaminq-art if you wanna hit me up!