This is Metropolis, a bustling town full of eccentric people, exciting attractions, and delicious deserts. Thought it looks like a regular city, it holds many secrets. But this is a story of one secret, one that changed the life of one teenager.
The alarm clock rings and a girl got out of bed. A puffy haired african american teen with an excited smile on her face. She puts on her yellow tank top, and green shorts. Believe it or not, that girl is me. My name is Nancy Anderson, and I was just like any other teen. Young, cool, and full of enthusiasm. I ran across the room until I bumped into someone with a purple shirt wearing glasses holding a few books.
"Nancy! Watch where you're going!" he said. "You made me mess up my calculus!"
The guy with the glasses is my brother, Ryan. He's a bit of a techno nerd, and he tends to be a bit over protective of me.
"Sorry, Ryan. I'm just excited." I tell him.
"When are you not excited?" He asks me. I shrug and I ran down the stairs into the kitchen.
"Nancy, what did I say about running on the stairs?" My mom told me.
"Sorry, mom. I'm just too excited for school."
"I can see that. Well, have some breakfast and be ready to leave."
"Okay!"
I went back to my room and packed my things in my backpack.
"Textbooks, check. Binder, check. Princess Zora of the Stars issue #24, super check!"
Princess Zora is one of my favorite comic book series. It's about a galactic warrior defending the universe from the evil space ogres of Gorgonia. It was a real page turner, I've been following her exploits since I was 7 and was a huge fan. I never start a day without reading one of her adventures.
We were in the car on our to to the high school, I saw the whole city passing by, all my favorite spots, and I loved it. Soon we made it to the school and as we got off and Mom wished us goodbye.
"You two have fun at school!" She said.
"Thanks mom, we will." I said as she drove off. "Race you inside, brother." I ran inside as my brother rolled his eyes.
I strolled through the halls, looking at everyone talking and watching thier phones. I went to my locker to put away my backpack and talked to one the students.
"Oh, hey. Wanna hang out with me at lunch?" I said as I hold out a Princess Zora action figure. "We can reenact the two part epic battle with the shapeshifting blobs of Demanitor!" I said as I hold said blob monster. I couldn't tell, but that teen wasn't very into me... in general.
"Uh, no thanks..." He said as he grabbed his books and left.
"Oh, okay. I guess action figures aren't your thing..." I said as I put away the toys and grab my textbook and comic book and went to my class.
Sure, some people think I'm weird and childish for playing with toys and acting odd. But that didn't phase me, because all those things made me me. But this is a story of how all of that changed. And how I turned from zero to hero with one big mistake.
In my chemistry class, there I was reading my Zora comic book. But just before I was getting to the good part, I was called on my teacher.
"Nancy!"
"Huh?" I quickly put away my comic as the teacher spoke to me.
"Have you been paying attention?"
"Of course I have Mr. Johnson." I lied.
"Then what did I just say?" he asked me and I nevrvously tried to guess.
"Uh... open you textbooks to chapter... eleventy?" I said earning a laugh from most of the class while Mr. Johnson face palmed.
"Ugh. Tomorrow we will be taking a trip to Lexcorp Labs for an exhibit of their latest discoveries. And it is very important that we PAY ATTENTION!" He empathized those last two words. I was never good at paying attention, and that always got me in trouble. And what happned next was no different.
Later, I was in my locker putting away my books when Ryan came up to me.
"Nancy." He said.
"Yes, Ryan?" I replied rolling my eyes.
"I'm serious. We are going the most advanced corporation in the world! I don't want you to get hurt."
"What makes you think I will get hurt?" I asked him.
"The time you got yor hand stuck in the presses during our trip to The Daily Planet?" He reminded. In defence the ink was too sticky.
"And the time that you sunk our paddle boat during our family trip to the lake?"
In defence, they should make the paddles easier to reach.
"And let's not forget when you were in charge of the fireworks in the fourth of july picnic!"
In defence... yeah I don't have a defence for that.
"It took me week to regrow my eyebrows!" Ryan sighed. "The point is your curiosity can get you into trouble. I just want you to be safe. You're my only sister." He placed his hands on my shoulders. I smiled at him, it was kinda nice he was looking out for me. Most people don't do that for me.
"Don't worry, Ryan. I'll be fine." I assured. "I know I made a few mistakes but I promise I'll be safe. Besides what could happen?"
I shouldn't have said that... But that was a worry for tomorrow.
At lunch, I was making my way to the cafeteria. Where all the kids were eating and sharing their stories, and I couldn't wait to share mine. I went over to a table that was full of teens chatting. I walked over to them hoping to start a conversation.
"Hey, guys!" They all looked at me. "Did you see the latest episode of Space Train? Mitchell totally betrayed Francis and absorbed the power of the Darkness sceptere. No one saw it coming! Except for me. I kinda called it back at episode 56 when-"
"Uh, we're trying to eat here." One boy interrupted.
"Can you please move your nerd talk somewhere else?" A girl added.
I was a little offended but I shook it off.
"Fine. I guess you guys don't like culture." I walked off to find somewhere else to eat but all the seats were taken except for one table by the window. I sat there and and ate my lunch in peace. And yet I looked around the table with no seats to be found and I sigh. The thing about being someone as quirky as me is that no one understands the things I like and do. Sometimes, it would be nice to have someone to share my intrests.
The bell rings, ending another day at school. I was walking down the steps of the exit.
"So Jane, you wanna hit the pier? They just got a photo booth!" Jane walks away from me. "Okay, it's cool. Jeremy! Sweet Justice! You and me?" While I was walking I accidentally hit a tree and fell down.
"You're so weird."He told me before he left. I sigh again, to be honest most people don't want to be around me because they think I'm weird because of how I act. But that never was a problem for me, but still, it's a problem making friends who accept me for who I am.
Night fell on Metropolis, and I was back home in my room reading a comic book.
"You're doomed, Princess!" I said doing the voices. "I've taken away your power source, you'll never stop me!"
"That's what you think, Gortax!" I said as Zora. "Together we stand strong! You're tyranny ends here!"
I continue to read the comic book through the epic battle.
"It must be so awesome to be part of a team." I sighed. "I'd be happy if I just had some friends."
I put away my book and turned off my lamp going right to bed little knowing that the events that went down tomorrow would change everything...
The very next day were on a bus drive on our trip to Lexcorp Labs. As we exited the bus, I looked at the building as we approached the entrance and I was in awe. As we headed inside we saw the many technological wonders. We then saw a bald man flying in from above on a floating plate and stepped off to introduce himself.
"Hello. I'm Lex Luthor, and welcome visitors to Lexcorp Labs. Here we are currently working on way to improve daily lives. Becuase here at Lexcorp, we believe in making the world a better place. Now if you follow me we will be demonstrating our latest breakthrough." Lex said as the rest of the class follows him to the auditorium.
I was trying my very best to not to get distracted, but then while I was walking with my group that's when I saw the hoverboards on display floating on a glowing green pedistal.
"Wow!" I said as I ran to them and looked at them in awe. "Hey, Ryan! You got to see thi-" I turned around and saw that the class was already gone. "Hoo boy... Ryan? Anyone?" It was embarassing! Once again my curious self got me lost.
"Where could they be?" I asked myself. Then I remembered that Lex was showing the presentation in the auditorium.
"Find the auditorium and I'll find everyone else." I kept moving to find and entrance until I saw someone walking out of a small door. "Bingo!" I snucked to the door while it was still open I giggled at how clever I was. "No one will ever know I was gone." That's what I thought, but as I slipped in I failed to notice the "Employees Only" sign on top.
Inside, the presentation was in progress as Lex was on stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you're about to see will change your lives. Introducing the newest form of transportation..." The curtain opens revealing a glowing pair of shoes. "...Your feet!" The crowd was interested.
"These shoes are designed to improve speed, agility, and endurance. And that's not just something you hear on shoe commercials."
A man comes by and puts on the shoes, he then goes up on a treadmill and starts to run so fast as the treadmill tracks his speed.
"With Lex Air, people will be able to run faster than the average track runner and that's not all!"
The man jumps off the treadmill so high, surprising everyone.
"The shoes also improve your agility. With this, excersize will be a breeze. Human health will be improved by a thousand."
While the rest of the class saw the guy move and bounce around, I was trying to find my seat in where I thought was the way to the auditorium.
"Dang it, it's so dark in here. I thought they were starting the presentation thing." While I was shuffling through the dark I noticed the guy with the shoes demonstrating it's power. It was then that I noticed that I wasn't watching the demonstration I'm in the demonstration!
"Oh crud! I must've went through the wrong door! I better get out before..." Just as I was leaving, Lex continued explaining his latest product.
"The secret to these powerful shoes is this!" He held out a vial containing a green gooey substance. "This is a recently discovered compound found from an asteroid that landed on earth two years ago. After much experementing and research we have discovered it's ablilities was able to harness it."
A giant raygun rolled in from behind and Lex pushed a button and it shot a beam at another pair of shoes causing to glow and float in mid air. And another man put them on and was jumping so high in an excellent display of athletic prowess. And I was loving every second of it.
"I would kill for sneakers like those..." I said wide eyed. "Maybe I can get a closer look." With that I snuck in a bit closer to see more of those awesome shoes in action but did my best not to be seen.
"Now, for our next demonstration we will be-"
Just as Lex was explaining, the second man's shoes started to spark and then he was bouncing out of control causing the audience to gasp. The poor guy's legs started to stretch and twist, then his arms started to expand as he spun around.
"What's going on!?" Mr. Johnson exclaimed.
"T-T-There must be something wrong with the prototype!" Lex said.
The man's huge arms than smashes the ray gun and started to go haywire and shoot in random directions.
"Everybody, run!" Mr. Johnson screamed as the class and others ran towards the exit.
"Uh oh!" I ran towards the door but it was locked, trapping me in the chaos!
"Nancy! Nancy! Where are you!" My brother screamed as he looked for me.
Lex then pushed a button putting up a glass window containing me and the malfunctioning ray inside.
"The situation's under control everyone, rest assured no one will be harmed." Lex tried to calm down the crowd.
"HELP! HELP!" I screamed knocking on the glass everyone turned around and was shocked as they saw me trapped inside.
"Nancy!" Ryan screamed.
"Someone get me out of here!" I cried. Then the man's head enlarged and I screamed in terror as I ran and dodge his accidental attacks.
"NANCY!" Ryan cried.
"Get her out of there!" My teacher yelled.
I backed away from the mutating man until I accidentally tipped over the machine smashing it to the ground, it started to malfunction and started to fire beams all over the stage. Then it fired one last beam right at me. I felt the strange alien stuff radiating inside of me as I fell to the ground feeling weakened. Just as Lex, lowered the glass and my brother grabbed me just as the machine exploded destroying the stage.
"Nancy! Are you okay?!" Ryan cried as he held me. And replied groggily
"Uh... yeah I'm fine. But I feel weird..."
"Nancy Anderson, you are in big trouble! You could've been killed in there..." I heard my teacher yell at me but then I started to daze then blacked out. "Nancy?..."
When I woke up I was back in my room with my mom and brother on each side.
"Oh, Nancy! Thank goodness you're alright!" She said hugging me.
"Uh, shouldn't you be mad? I got in trouble at school and nearly got killed."
"Oh, you know I never care about that. Just as long as you're safe. I understand that what happened was an accident. You didn't know that was the wrong door."
"This is what I was warning you about! Everytime you're curious it leads to disaster! When are you ever going to stop acting so childish!?"
What Ryan said really got me, I was so distracted it nearly got me killed. My brother sighed as he saw me look down.
"Look, I'm sorry. It's just that-"
"Don't apologize, it's fine... Can I be alone for a while?" I asked.
"Okay, sweetie. Just call me if you need anything..." The two left while I was alone on my bed with my thoughts.
"I've always seem to get myself and everyone else in danger, but I don't mean it. I'm just curious, that's all. I can't help it. But maybe Ryan was right, I have been acting childish. Well, I'm gonna stop that. I'll show him, I'll change!"
That wasn't the only thing that was gonna change, the very next second my whole body started to tingle. I was starting to react to the weird radiation back at the lab.
"Wh-Wh-What's happening to me?" I said as my got out of bed and saw my body was shaking like jelly then my torso began to stretch and elongate! "WHAAAAAT THE!?" I exclaimed as I was going through some strange changes. My torso stretched back then my left leg grew breaking down the door! "AAAGH!"
"Nancy! Is everything okay up there?" My mom asked me and I quickly tried to fix the door.
"Y-Y-Yeah! Everything's fine mom!" I tried to sound normal but then an extra set of arms grew out! "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?" I screamed with four hands on my face! The extra arms retracted then I stumbled back and fell on my bed then I frantically bounced all over my room then out the window just as Ryan came over to see what was wrong.
"Nancy are you okay? I heard you screaming" He tried to open the door but it was stuck. "Locked." He sighs. "Could she really be that upset about what I said?"
Meanwhile, I was bouncing through the streets crashing through a table, wet cement, and a statue.
"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! How do I stop this!?" I streched an arm and grabbed a lampost, then I swung around and grabbed another one and swing through town on my stretchy arms.
"I think I'm getting the hang of thi-" I was then flung into the air and then right into a billboard. I was flatter than mom's homemade bread. As I floated down like a piece of paper a man noticed me like I was a flat sign or something. I got up and the second he saw my papery self he screamed in terror and fled.
"Wait! Come back!" I shuffled. Then I shifted into a ball then rolled out of control crashing into a mailbox then I smashed into a lamp post, then I smashed someone's car!
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Was all I could say while I was trying to control whatever's going on with me. I shifted back into my normal self and jumped so high and landed on top of a tall building.
"Finally..." I panted. I sat down feeling exhausted trying to figure out what was going on. "What's going on with me? I can grow arms, I can stretch, I can turn myself into a ball..." I thought for a while then I remembered getting zapped with that ray back at the lab.
"That ray... that cosmic stuff... did it gave me powers?" I questioned but then I looked at the damages I have caused throughout town. The wrecked property, the cracked roads, the broken mailboxes. I saw people talking to the police I extended my neck and expanded my ear to hear better.
"This thing came out of nowhere, swinging through the street, bashin' mailboxes, It looked like it had no idea what it was doin'."
The last thing he said described me perfectly.
"Did you get a good look at this vandal?" The officer said.
"No, I didn't I was too busy runnin' for my life. And I hope I never see it! A freak like that has no place in this town!"
The last sentence echoed in my head, I couldn't control what happened at lab or what happened to me. So what good do I have of ever changing? I streched back and tears flowed through me.
"Ryan was right!" I sobbed. "I am a child! It's my fault I'm stuck with these... weird powers! What if everyone finds out it was me? They'll think of me as more as a weirdo." I wiped my tears and got up.
"Maybe It's better if they didn't know. If no one knew..."
I then used my powers to head home trying not to be seen. After what happened today, I made sure no one found out about my mutation. Because if they knew who I was, I could never show my face in this town again...