Prologue Part 2: Near Light

"Only 6 months…"

The sun had shone brightly through the window of the hospital room. Of course, the teen had been none the wiser at eleven years old. His ignorance of the real world clouded his judgment like a thick fog on a Spring morning. But… even he could see the time was coming at that moment. He just wished it had gone by quicker.

"He has a history with it..."

The emotional turmoil of those 6 months was beyond anything someone of his age should've been going through. The hope he once had quickly dissipated into despair, and longing for the quiet. The anger ate away at him, like a...

"Squamous…"

He closed himself off after the diagnosis came. He had hoped the one person he truly considered close to him would be there. But even he was gone, having long since put his work beyond their bond. It made him sick to think about how he could be so heartless. He'd been there all of his life, and then when he truly needs him, he just... never comes.

"Metastasized into bone cancer…"

Was it selfish of him to want him to die already? For the pain he was going through to end, so that he could finally be at peace?

"It doesn't matter anymore…"

He'd lost almost half of his body weight. Anything physically resembling the once proud man was long since gone. He was sickly in appearance, his silver eyes sunken into his skull. He was hard to look at without wanting to avert your eyes. The only remnants of normalcy he had were the books he had written. The fantasy of what they presented almost being like a gateway drug to a world far beyond even that of one with quirks.

He still held his sense of humor and the smile he had always had. But… the pain on his face was so evident... It was hard for him to even lift his arm to get water. Even Mum had to do that for him. He was dying there, laying in the bed waiting to die. Every, single, day, was just pain on top of dread.

"Why…"

The funeral… Lucas didn't even bother going there either...

"Why…"

He'd lost his father… THEIR father… Yet he still put himself out of reach…

"WHY…"

A sudden jostle from the bus hitting a pothole awoke David almost immediately as he almost jumped in his seat. The emptiness of the vehicle, combined with the heavily tinted windows only served to further his isolation as he sat silent as ever. He didn't notice at first, but his eyes were watering heavily. He sniffed his nose and wiped his silver eyes as he sat up from the position he took while sleeping. The teen took out his phone to see that he had been asleep for at least two hours.

Lucky for him, Ivor had said in his letter that the drive would be four. So he had at least knocked out around half of the trip in one grand swoop.

His phone was going to be losing service soon judging by the road signs hinting at their approach to the "dark zone", so before Atlas would take his phone and sever him from any outside communication he thought of at least sending one final text to his mum. He opened his phone and swiped. Unlocking it led to a black screen with the word Vox, being in the center of it. He tapped on the messaging app and opened up the chat with his mother. He really did mean to send a message there and then.

But all David could do was just stare at the keypad that came up on his screen. He sat there for what felt like 5 minutes internally debating whether or not he'd say anything. But right when his fingers were about to tap the keypad, his service cut out without warning. So ultimately the decision was made for him.

He stuffed it back into the pocket of his jeans and leaned back into his seat. Either to silently sulk or mentally berate himself for not sending the text. Yet another thing he'd probably come to later regret. At least he didn't forget anything right? Then his eyes opened wide as he scrambled to grab one of his bags and rummaged through it.

'Shitshitshitshit, please don't tell me I forgot it!'

David thought as he reached through his belongings for where he had last put it. When he felt what he was looking for, he pulled out what looked like to be a somewhat thick book with a brown leather cover. He let out a large sigh of relief as he grasped it tightly against his chest. The only thing left of what was the better times of his life.

That little escapade immediately made David go through what his mum would call his "mental frenzy", which was actually him just running through a mental checklist to see if he had everything he needed.

'5 sets of clothes, check, Dad's books, check, hair dye, check, yeah, I think that's everything…'

He packed what he had taken out back into his bag, and soon put everything back to the way he had it. As he leaned his head on his clothes bag, and covered himself with his winter coat, he soon found himself asleep once again. This time, David just hoped that it'd be a seamless ride to the checkpoint.

Or that's what he would've thought if the bus didn't hit another pothole and make him smack his head against the window.

"Fuck!"

Talbot hadn't been having a good day when he had come across this villain. Having been late to his wife's birthday party on top of throwing up after waking from his two hours of sleep didn't exactly make the start of the morning a cakewalk. Especially after the blow, the women had dealt to his side.

Having graduated from a top hero school from Scotland, he thought he could at least handle a majority of what was thrown his way. What was this person though? She wasn't anything like he had fought up to that point.

He grabbed at his side holding onto it as the pain started to sink in. It wasn't bleeding from what he could tell, and upon a closer look, he saw it had been cauterized. He looked forward, through the empty abandoned building as her silhouette came through the hole he had run through. She extended her hand as if to make a chop and put it to her side. A one-meter-long pink transparent blade covered and then extended from her hand as she continued her advance. Her voice had a slight British accent and was complemented by a condescending tone.

"The fact someone so primitive could be a hero disgusts me. But don't worry Talbot…"

She giggled a bit.

"Your disappearance will be for the common good."

He grit his teeth at her words. It was dark outside, so that had been how she ambushed him, and why he couldn't see her features clearly.

When she did step even closer, with the assistance of the light from the blade, made it so he could finally see her facial features. She had pink eyes, and pink lipstick to match. Her black hair was quite short, and her features were smooth. The woman was at least 5'8, and was quite muscular to match, with black combat boots and armored black pants with a belt consisting of many military-grade pieces of equipment. She had a tight kevlar top with a pink line going down the center of her chest, with it arching 45 degrees to the left just above her waist. Her arms had kevlar gauntlets that started as completely grey and became more gradiently pink as they traveled up from the wrist. All of it was the classic villain costume, but the grin on her face gave away she was enjoying this far too much.

"Listen, I'll make sure I bring you in for assault if you continue. But maybe I'll let you off with fewer injuries if you surrender."

Talbot said, almost pleading.

The woman took her remaining hand and put it to her chin as if to think. Then she let out a small snicker.

"No, I don't think I will."

"Fine, I won't say I didn't warn you.."

Talbot planted his feet into the ground and dug his feet into the ground as he sprinted to his left, keeping his eyes on her as he did so. He'd have to see how she fought before he could make any real moves at first. Which was something he had long since gotten used to with his quirk, Pinball.

Talbot Grimes:

Quirk: Pinball

Talbot can run into walls and bounce off of them, storing kinetic energy that boosts his physical strength and speed for a short time. The more bounces, the stronger he gets, and in turn, can get even faster.

Talbot hit the wall hard as he bounced back and then immediately turned to a wall on his right and repeated the process. The sickening smack from the two hits made the women frown as she stood there, waiting.

'Disgusting.'

Was all the villain could think as the hero rushed forward towards his assailant. His orange eyes glowed as he lifted his right arm ready to strike. He was marginally successful in getting close to her, but she then sidestepped out of the way of the blow as Talbot continued running and hit the wall across from where he had first started his charges. Luckily being in a square room provided him a few advantages. He quickly turned around as he tried to rush her again. This time his attention turned to the construction equipment that was laying on a table across the room from where he had come. Then an idea popped into his mind.

The villain was eyeing his movements, still waiting. What for, he didn't know. But she didn't attack when he was right there and opted to dodge out of the way. To him, she was clearly trying to get him to mess up in some way. But luckily his quirk would allow him to blitz her at this rate. He rushed forward to the wall he had first, then turned 45 degrees to his left and charged at the wall he had been facing. His muscles were bulging at this point, the veins along his body glowing orange like his eyes.

He stayed there for a second after that bounce and grabbed the table with ease. He threw it at her and immediately charged after. This time instead of dodging, she used her still glowing blade and effortlessly sliced through it. Smiling as she did so.

"I think I've seen all I need to."

Came out of her mouth as she ran forward and slid under his arm as he threw her blade behind her. A sound similar to that of a fictional sword made out of a laser was heard as Talbot felt immense pain on his back. This time when he hit a wall, he paused as the effects of his quirk went away. He knew what had happened, and could only guess that the cut was at least somewhat deep. The lack of feeling any blood dripping down his back told him that it had similarly been cauterized like his side.

She was only going to attack if she knew she'd be able to get a strike. Or at least that's what went through Talbot's head, but at the same time, maybe he was trying to generalize?

You see the thing is, after being a hero for so long, there were around only four main ways he had seen villains counter his quirk in any effective manner. Either dodge and hit, run at him as he charged to try and outpower him, use a ranged attack, or use the environment so that he had nothing to bounce off of. All of which were effective, but he'd gotten used to it a while ago and found a way to circumvent them. Humans are habitual creatures, so you'd see very little differentiation between his opponents. It seemed like the villain was trying to use the first approach, but was only studying him, or more accurately;

She was playing with her food.

Talbot turned to look at her as he readied himself again.

"So you're just going to dodge?"

He scoffed a bit as he frowned. She did the opposite. The villain looked like she was having fun with this.

"I find it idiotic that your quirk can only let you barbarically run into a wall, and then make you stronger. I think such an ability is more befitting of a bull rather than a human."

She aimed her blade at him.

"So I'll treat you like the cow you are and show you the true beauty of what a quirk can do."

She charged forward, and Talbot got ready. He ran into a wall to his left and then charged towards her. He aimed for her gut, and with his opponent going for a horizontal swing. Luckily for Talbot, his quirk giving him enhanced speed finally did more than just let him travel quicker, and his right arm dug into her chest.

She was flown back into a wall and was stunned for a moment. Talbot wouldn't let this moment go to waste. He charged forward at her and hit the wall she had whilst simultaneously grabbing her face with his left hand. He turned and threw her, his increased strength doing the same as last time as she hit the wall. Harder than last time, she groaned in pain a bit, and yet again, Talbot rushed forward.

Instead of grabbing her, he used the weight, and speed of his body to hit her dead on. He bounced back and then ran forward again as the wall behind them broke. Allowing him to continue his charge forward, with his assailant being carried. She yelled a bit from the pain, but Talbot wasn't giving her any chances to recover. He ran through the construction site before hitting another wall. Yet again bouncing back as it was a bit thicker than his previous target

He grit his teeth and ran through that one as well. But then he stopped as a sinking heat started to emanate from his chest after the sound of his assailant's blade was heard. It was sudden, and the pain that came after was excruciating. He almost collapsed as his target planted her feet on the ground. She coughed a bit as she frowned, and then Talbot saw the one-meter-long pink blade through his chest. Orange blood started to flow from his mouth as he coughed.

"You gave me much more problems than I thought. I'll admit that."

She took her free hand and rubbed a cut on her cheek.

"But you put a CUT, on my beautiful face."

She took that hand and slapped Talbot as the blade disappeared, and with that, he fell to the ground.

"I was right in what I said, you're nothing but a glorified bull... An animal."

She scoffed and eyed him, turning her head a bit. She kneeled to his level on the floor. She grabbed Talbot's hair and held his head up as she extended one finger as a smaller three-inch-long blade came from it right below his neck. She whispered as she took in the fear from his eyes.

"I should kill you right now... make you pay for daring to strike me."

Her breathing was labored, and he could tell he had done major damage to her back. She was barely managing to keep herself from collapsing as she kneeled.

"But sadly, my dear leader wants you alive. And disappointing him is something that I can't do."

She threw his head down to the ground as her blade dissipated. She reached for her belt and grabbed a small radio, putting it near her face.

"Dark Glass, target's been captured."

A period of silence was heard before a response came back out of it.

"Affirmative Everglow, prepare your light construct, we'll be ready in a few seconds."

The word captured immediately caught Tablot's attention. This wasn't a normal villain fight, was it? She was trying to get him into an isolated location so that he would be rangled like an… animal.

He tried to crawl away, a natural response to the coming events.

The now named Everglow tilted her head as she put the radio back on her belt. She walked over to him and kicked his stomach hard. A scream came out from his mouth, as the cut in the same location he was hit combined with her boots being steel-toed amplified the pain tenfold.

"Now, why are you all of a sudden running? Don't you want to meet Ouroboros? I promise you, you'd be dead if it wasn't for him. You should be grateful."

"F-f-fuck you…"

Was all that Talbot could say as he kept coughing out blood to continue breathing. Everglow frowned as she shook her head and took a deep breath. This time, she rolled him onto his back and stomped on his face, multiple times. Blood started to flow out of his nose, as the area around his eyes started to swell. Before long he was starting to pass out.

He could've sworn he heard what was around three people walking as his eyes started to close as he felt himself being dragged backward.

"He may be the final component to Compound 33! I can practically feel the anticipation!"

Came a male voice, clearly with an American accent.

"Don't get too excited Metamorph, everything comes with time."

Came another, this time with a Mexican accent.

"Oh, I do suppose you're right… Guess we'll see."

Millions of thoughts ran through Talbot's mind as he felt himself being dragged more and more. Whatever they were about to do, wasn't going to be pretty. He was scared, in a way he had never been while in the hero scene. All he could hope now is that he'd survive.

The only problem now?

What were they going to do to him?

Well here's the second part of the prologue as the submission date gets near! I'm honestly quite surprised to have gotten such a positive response so far. Although it's a welcome surprise to be sure!

I'd like to thank everyone for the positive words so far, and I hope I can keep my writing to a good standard for you all to enjoy. I would prefer that you leave a review if possible. Feedback helps with motivation, and if you haven't please do join the Discord server! It helps me talk with submitters, and ask for changes much more easily than Fanficiton's PM's.