Chapter 4: Multiple Powers
At the hospital, Wilbur's doctor ran some DNA tests when told of the predicament. The computer screen beeped multiple times as the test results came through.
"Holy moly…" Dr. Weaver murmured. "Look at this!"
He turned the computer screen toward the Robinson's, displaying Wilbur's blood cells. Each blood cell, red or white, had small purple nuclei all over them.
"Take a guess; what do you think those purple things are?" Dr. Weaver asked.
The room was silent for a few moments as the threesome thought. Cornelius broke the silence, "Sulfuric plasma particles."
"Bingo." The doctor replied. "Wilbur that plasma went not only on your body, but in it. This stuff is in your entire blood stream."
Wilbur sat there, quite confused. "What exactly does that mean?"
Dr. Weaver turned off the computer and looked at Wilbur with a smile.
"It means, that that plasma is what all these strange things are coming from. But the question is, what are these strange things?"
Wilbur looked away, slightly annoyed. "That is an excellent question."
Laughing out loud, the doctor exclaimed, "It means you have super powers!"
Wilbur and his parents stood there staring at him like he just popped out of a UFO landed from Mars. Was he crazy? They didn't believe what they had just heard. Wilbur was the first to speak.
"Say what?"
Before Weaver could speak again, Cornelius intervened in a frustrated tone. "How is that even possible? If anything, the stuff was supposed to kill him, not turn him into Superman!"
"That I don't know. One thing I do know, is that I'm going to send you three to a power specialist. This information is of course confidential by law, and won't leave this building. The specialist I'm sending you to is a retired super hero, and he helps us with patients who've just discovered they have powers. Follow me and I'll take you to Dr. Whitcomb."
Wilbur and his parents followed Dr. Weaver to a floor under the building, sort of like a basement. When the elevator doors opened, the three could tell it was a doctor's office meant for helping supers. After walking in, Dr. Weaver called out for Dr. Whitcomb. Seconds later, an elderly man with tousled, white hair and grey goatee emerged. With a smile, he said, "Well, who've we got here?"
Dr. Weaver introduced the family, almost shocking the old man when he heard their names.
"Well, I never thought I'd assist a celebrity family in my life, and yet, here we are!" Dr. Whitcomb smiled broadly. Wilbur decided he liked the man already.
"Yes, well, here is Wilbur's file, and I'll let you get to it!" Dr. Weaver said before leaving.
Once the younger doctor left, Dr. Whitcomb looked over Wilbur's file. Wilbur stood there awkwardly, not sure what to make of the situation. A rare occurrence… Finally, the old man looked up, still smiling.
"Sounds like you've got some interesting powers to show me! Let's have a look at your eyes first. Come on over here."
Wilbur moved over to the doctor's eye examiner uneasily. He had almost killed his dad that morning, he most certainly didn't want to hurt or kill an old man he didn't know! Sensing his uneasiness, Whitcomb said calmly, "You can't hurt me, Wil. It's gonna be fine."
Wilbur did everything he was told as Dr. Whitcomb looked at his eyes through the machine.
"Wow, you've got a lot of plasma in your head, boy…" he murmured.
"Gee, thanks!" Wilbur said sarcastically. The old man smiled, which helped lighten the tense atmosphere.
"Ok, bud, come over here now."
Wilbur and his parents followed the old man to a white line on the floor, to which the doctor pointed.
"Alright, don't cross the white line, and look straight ahead. Do you see the white square hanging on the wall 10 feet in front of you?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah?" Wilbur replied.
"Ok, I want you to look at the little, red dot in the middle, and squint your eyes."
Wilbur furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, and looked up at the doctor. "You'll see in a second, trust me." Whitcomb said.
Wilbur shrugged, and looked back at the white box. He focused in on the red dot, and squinted a little bit. Instantly, two bright purple lazors shot out of his eyes, and hit the red dot. When he stopped squinting, they both disappeared. He looked back up at the grinning doctor, and wide-eyed parents. "Lazor vision. You've got good aim and command already. Soon enough you won't have to squint to make it work. That will prove useful one day, I can promise you that." Whitcomb said, before walking to his desk behind the Robinsons.
Finally, Wilbur could not contain the question any longer, "What kind of super are you exactly?" Everyone knew about super heroes and villains, but you were lucky to meet one and actually have a legit conversation with one!
With a chuckle, Whitcomb replied, "I was once known as Healer. I have a power that can cure any injury. Give me your hand, I'll show you."
Wilbur looked down at his right hand, which had a nasty cut on it from the explosion. He held up his hand to the doctor, who lightly grasped it. The man moved his hand over the cut and as he did, a light seemed to emit from his fingers. When he moved his hand away completely, Wilbur's skin was completely renewed. No cut, no burn, no pain.
Wilbur touched his skin, smiled and said, "Hey, I've got lots more you can heal!"
The adults laughed out loud, and the retired super said, "I'd love to, but it takes me a lot of energy to do just a few cuts in a day. This old body can't do what it used to unfortunately."
Smile fading, Wilbur asked, "So, what other powers do I have?"
Hesitating, Healer replied, "I'm not sure. Let's turn off the lights, and see you glow."
After the lights turned off automatically, Wilbur's forehead and arms lit up, but his eyes didn't, which Wilbur thought strange. Dr. Whitcomb gave a low whistle, "Wow…" Running his fingers over Wilbur's forehead, the old man was completely stunned.
"I'm gonna be completely honest with you. I have never seen anything like this in all my years as a super, which has been since birth mind you, so I don't know what this is."
Suddenly, Wilbur's eyes started glowing, which startled the doctor.
"That was random." Wilbur remarked.
"I'll say," the doctor agreed, then his face lit up with sudden excitement, like a light bulb went off. "Can you see better in the dark?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I can. It looks like there is a light on in the room, but it's still dark."
Suddenly, the doctor clapped his hands excitedly. "Night vision! No one has had that power in over 50 years! That is awesome!"
"That's interesting." Cornelius commented, getting more interested by the minute.
"Yeah…" Wilbur said. Sure it was cool he had two powers, but they only had to do with vision? Wait, there was that weird thing that happened when Cornelius tried to grab Wilbur's arm…
Interrupting the adult's conversation, he asked, "What about the other power?"
Dr. Whitcomb turned the lights back on, and looked again at Wilbur's file. "Other power…" he murmured. "Oh! That other power! Phasing!" the doctor smiled, slapping Wilbur's file closed.
Then he realized the blank look on their faces meant that they had no idea what "phasing" was. It was a rare power after all. "Here, give me your hand." he said.
Wilbur held his hand toward the doctor, who took it and lined up his fingers underneath Wilbur's. "Now, gently push down towards my hand."
As Wilbur did, a bright, shiny blue surrounded Wilbur's hand and it started to move through the doctor's. Seconds later, Wilbur's hand had moved completely through and he stared at his hand, stunned.
"You'll be able to do that with your whole body eventually!" Whitcomb said.
Finally, Wilbur said, "That's creepy."
"Creepy, but cool!" the doctor said. "Don't worry, you'll get used to your powers quickly, and you will learn to love them. And who knows, maybe you'll become one of the greatest supers the world has ever seen!"
The thought of becoming a world-renowned superhero honestly scared Wilbur. That accident didn't kill him like it could have, but instead it gave him super powers, changing his life forever! Now, anytime he did anything or went anywhere, he had to be aware of everything he did, so he wouldn't give himself away.
"What a lovely future." Wilbur thought, almost bitterly.