Chapter 6: Power Unleashed
The junkyard was quiet except for the distant sounds of city traffic and the occasional caw of a crow. Rows of rusted cars, old appliances, and discarded machinery formed a chaotic maze under the gray afternoon sky. Kenny's uncle owned the place, but he wasn't around much. To Kenny, that made it the perfect training ground.
"This is it," Kenny said, spreading his arms dramatically as they stepped through the squeaky gate. "Welcome to my lab of destruction."
Jay raised an eyebrow. "Your uncle just lets you hang out here?"
Kenny grinned. "He doesn't care as long as I don't break anything expensive. And considering most of this stuff is junk, we're golden."
Jay looked around, skeptical. "You sure this is a good idea?"
Kenny waved a hand dismissively. "Relax. No one's gonna see us, and if something goes wrong, well, we're surrounded by stuff that's already broken."
Jay sighed, pulling up the hood of his sweatshirt. "Fine. Let's do this."
Kenny dragged an old metal car door from a pile of scrap and propped it against a stack of tires. "All right, let's start with the basics. Show me the finger thing."
Jay hesitated, glancing around to make sure they were alone. Then he raised his right hand, curling his pinky and ring finger toward his palm while keeping his pointer and middle finger extended in a gun-like gesture. He focused, and sure enough, yellow sparks danced across his fingertips.
"Okay, here goes," Jay muttered. He aimed at the car door and let the energy flow.
A thin yellow beam shot out, striking the metal with a loud clang. The door buckled inward, leaving a small, smoldering dent where the beam had hit.
"Dude!" Kenny exclaimed, clapping his hands. "That's insane!"
Jay flexed his fingers, a mix of awe and confusion on his face. "It's like… I can feel it building up before I fire. It's weird."
"Do it again," Kenny said, practically bouncing with excitement.
Jay tried again, this time using his left hand. The beam was just as strong, leaving another dent in the door. He switched back to his right hand, firing again and again until the car door was riddled with holes.
"Okay, so you're a sharpshooter," Kenny said, grinning. "Let's see how far you can take this."
The next couple of hours were a whirlwind of discovery. Kenny acted as a self-proclaimed "scientist," jotting notes in a small notebook while Jay tested the limits of his newfound powers.
1. Energy Blasts:
Jay could only fire beams from his pointer and middle fingers, and only when he made a gun-like gesture with his hand.
The blasts varied in intensity depending on how much he focused. A quick motion produced a small, controlled beam, while concentrating for longer created a wider, more destructive shot.
He managed to slice through an old washing machine with a particularly strong blast, leaving both boys speechless.
2. Super Strength:
At Kenny's urging, Jay tried lifting a rusted car frame. To his surprise, it wasn't nearly as heavy as it looked. He hoisted it above his head, his muscles straining slightly but holding steady.
"Bro," Kenny said, his jaw dropping. "You're a freakin' tank."
Jay smirked, dropping the frame with a loud thud. "Guess I don't need to skip leg day anymore."
3. Agility and Reflexes:
Kenny tested Jay's reflexes by throwing random objects at him—a hubcap, a tennis ball, even an old shoe. Jay caught each one effortlessly, sometimes snatching them out of the air before Kenny even finished his throw.
"Your reaction time is insane," Kenny said, shaking his head in disbelief.
To push things further, Jay climbed onto a stack of cars and leaped from one to the next with ease. His balance was impeccable, and his movements were fluid, almost animalistic.
4. Enhanced Senses:
Kenny held up various objects, asking Jay to describe them without looking. Jay could smell the faint traces of oil on an old wrench and hear the faint hum of an electrical transformer several yards away.
"Your senses are dialed up to eleven," Kenny said, scribbling furiously in his notebook. "This is next-level stuff."

Despite the excitement, Jay quickly discovered that his powers had limits.
After firing several energy blasts in quick succession, his hands began to ache, and the sparks grew fainter.
Lifting heavy objects for extended periods left him winded, though his recovery time was much faster than it used to be.
The heightened senses, while useful, were overwhelming at times. A sudden burst of sound or a strong smell could throw him off balance.

Jay wiped the sweat from his brow, leaning against a rusted truck. "Okay, I think I'm tapped out for now."
Kenny nodded, closing his notebook. "Fair enough. But dude, this is incredible. You're like a real-life superhero."
Jay shook his head. "I don't know about that. This… this is all because of my mom. Her research, those nanites… it's not really me."
Kenny frowned. "Come on, man. That's not true. The powers might've come from her, but you're the one using them. You're the one deciding what to do with them."
Jay didn't respond, his thoughts drifting back to his mom. He clenched his fists, the faint crackle of energy returning to his fingertips. "I just wish I could've done something to save her."
As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the junkyard, Jay and Kenny packed up their things. The holes in the car door, the crushed appliances, and the overturned scrap piles were a testament to the day's discoveries.
Kenny slapped Jay on the back as they walked toward the gate. "So, what's next? You gonna start fighting crime or something?"
Jay chuckled softly. "I don't know, Kenny. Right now, I just want answers."
Kenny nodded, his expression serious. "We'll figure it out, man. Whatever this is, we'll get to the bottom of it."
Jay glanced at his hands, the faint glow of energy still lingering beneath the surface. For the first time in weeks, he felt a sense of purpose. Whatever these powers were, he was going to use them—to find the truth, to protect the people he cared about, and maybe, just maybe, to become something more.