Author's note: Thanks for adding Macho Man to your reading list! Enjoy!

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https://youtu.be/fPDCjsHC8Dg

A bloodcurdling shriek pierced the eternal day of the Yukon.

Thinking that some poor unfortunate soul had found themselves at the wrong end of a polar bear encounter, Denali was not amused when his friend, Yutu, yanked him out of bed at a quarter past midnight.

Barely pausing to put on leather boots, he only greeted the Inuit preteen once his eyes adjusted to the golden sunrays.

Here in the Artic Circle, six months of a gloomy night preceded six months of blistering daylight. Contrary to popular thought, sunlight would not warm the present occupants of Alaska's northern regions, rather mocked them with promises of a warmer summer.

One which never came.

Looking out from the porch, he observed the permafrost burying the soil so that no living plant except the most hardy here could survive. The inhabitants treated their kin with the same care that nature liked to rear the fauna and flora: no mercy, letting only those who could adapt to such below-freezing temperatures keep their breath a while longer.

In a rural environment like this, relying on your neighbors is essential. Sadly, when a brash outsider enters, and then shortly exits one late winter's night the victim of extreme cold, the progeny is then left with no one to turn to.

 Blizzards often lay waste to these lands, so the village folk join hands in shelter, combating the deadly elements of wind and snow together. Yet the outcast and his mother, now forced to stay, fend off the isolation and Artic Tundra climate with as much warmth as these villagers believes befits them.

Almost none.

Yutu, the poor child, did not deserve such a fate.

However, just one person is needed when one truly feels all alone. For Yutu, that companion came in the form of Denali, a runt with health issues teased mercilessly by the other children.

"Denali!", shouted the over-eager Yutu as he leaped about in the autumn snow.

"Why is there blood on your trousers?", asked Denali. From what he gathered, his only friend did not sport any obvious injuries.

"They were being mean to me...and it just clicked!" He kept on rambling, confusing the native Alaskan, Denali.

"What happened?"

"I showed them true fear," the Canadian Inuit crooned with a crooked grin on his face that terrified the younger Koyukon, (an Alaskan Native Athabascan group).

He was about to elaborate further, however, a whole cry echoed in the valley as shadows rolled in and the occupants got up to an endless night.

The young Alaskan native rushed out to see what was occurring, but was stopped by his friend.

"You'll experience the side effects if you let go of my hand."

His blood ran cold, he hoped he would wake up soon from this nightmare.

Hoping for the best case scenario, Denali shook off the hand and sprinted toward the nearest town where he did indeed view his greatest fear realized.

The outcast had submerged the town in darkness, the people collapsing from fright, never to wake again.

"What have you done?", he whispered. The chilly breeze whooshed against his cheeks, providing an excuse to play off his now abnormally pale complexion.

"The best part is...no one can ever bully us again!" Laughing audibly, gaunt eyes stared back at Denali.

Petroleum was a lighter color than them.

Urine poured uncomfortably down the pants of the preteen Denali, but what he did next shocked even himself.

CRUNCH.

Sharp glass impaled the malevolent child, scarlet drops scattering from his figure as the liquid painted the snow a light rose.

In utter terror, Denali became trapped in a living nightmare.

As his mouth uttered a wordless scream, a grown man woke from the horrid dream to crisp silk sheets and a gorgeous lady lying beside him.

"A bad dream?", she murmured, massaging his neck tenderly. Too much stress placed on those broad shoulders nowadays.

"No, a memory," he replied back.

"Oh."

"And do you know what's good about the past?"

She giggled. She had heard the line before, but she lived for him to tell it again. "I don't know, tell me."

Turning to face the window, he eyed her warily and smirked. The past would not happen again if he could help it.

"We're not bound to repeat it..."

https://youtu.be/LAYCfZYLWMw

Carson City

"Chopper approaching soon...should I slow down approach?"

"No, go full blast. We need to cover this story now while it's still hot!"

Down below, a prominent ebony building stood out proud. Looking like it was recovered from a petroleum oil spill, the sore thumb rose high in the slums of the inner city. The rich mortage group who owned the place let almost no civilian in, but from the clear glass it was clear that the Pacific Island paradise magnificently dressed as a lobby was heaven for those who could afford entry.

Even a State Senator took residence in the interior marble walls so of course security was of its topmost priority.

Still, it crumbled into dust as the public eye remained fixed on the perpetrator, gawking at the newest target of internet clout.

Cataclysm.

A Gamma-level Mystic intent on world destruction.

At least according to his critics. You see, Cataclysm is a supervillain, but this story isn't about him.

"Move two steps to the right. The reporters are gonna be a nuisance if they're trampled on."

And the one overseeing all this chaos was the ever-sarcastic sidekick to this rebel with a cause.

Our protagonist who conveniently thought rebellion was a fun way to waste his free time...the rebel without a cause.

Being a villain's sidekick proved an effective treatment for the boredom of a smart adolescent Mystic. Who cared about fighting world's injustices when pissing off the City Hero was so fun? (He would decline to tell his villain master though because Cataclysm would disagree.)

In a world full of Mystics and non-Mystics, most populated cities in America had a city-appointed Mystic known as the city Hero. If you had been in a coma for a few decades, you might ask who exactly are Mystics.

Time for the shortest history lesson ever: During the late 19th century, scientists and archaeologists unearthed evidence that myths and supernatural legends from the past had actual concrete basis behind them. In fact, during WW2, the Nazis sought to find special people and (wait for it) torment the ever-living daylights out of them.

However, the Vietnam War was when the conspiracy truly came to light.

In a misstep known simply as the Hoi An Incident, the Soviets made a foul play and accidentally revealed that they had been using soldiers who perhaps might not be fully human.

Unfortunately, an American diplomat's comment to reporters popped the proverbial bubble right open by insisting the Americans "were prepared already."

Suddenly, countries and kingdoms around the world, both non-Soviet and Soviet allies, revealed that they too knew about these so-called Mystics. A few countries had even used specialized units of these Mystics during the last few decades with no fanfare attached.

Along with the Pentagon Papers, this became the most earth-shattering revelations made in over a century. However, in a time when groups' rights were being championed, Mystics rights proved just another moniker to protest over.

Fortunately, the Americans released their preliminary research, alerting the public that the only difference between Mystics and non-Mystics was a specific active gene. (Certifying that indeed Mystics were regular citizens too.) Most who had it found that it remained dormant; only a few could utilize an enhanced ability of some sort.

Thus, the need to protect people from those who would break the law with it was born.

Apparently, there are humans who like to find loopholes against the best of intentions and demonstrated against the need for City Heroes. (He find it a tad ironic because in other countries, they did not get the memo that Mystics were also regular citizens. As a result, Mystics would just be drafted automatically into the military and used as weapons. Alas, the protagonist thought that here in America, one must whine about everything.)

Due to recent regulations brought up by corrupt politicians, City Heroes could now only go after supervillains while the drained limited (read unpopular) police force was tasked with catching regular criminals. The problem is that some criminals couldn't be caught by the word of law which is where Cataclysm came in.

Villain Moniker: Cataclysm

Mystic Level Scale: Gamma

Ability: Causing seismic disturbances

For instance, toppling a petty mortgage-lending agency that specialized in sucking dry their clients and then forcing them to file bankruptcy while kicking them to the curb and suing the ever-living daylights out of them.

Case in point-the prominent ebony building remains.

Untouchable scum. Cataclysm felt it was his duty to punish the unpunishable.

Some people, such as this City's Hero, disagreed.

"Do you think Shark Bait's replacement is here yet?" asked the villain.

Macho Man, (the name was chosen for him), had been texting Salamander, a fellow villain sidekick, in another monitor that partially served as a PC gaming console when he realized that it was not a rhetorical question.

Could this baboon be bothered to watch the news? Shark Bait retired ages ago!

This dunce only reads newspapers. Who still reads newspapers nowadays anyway?

Plucking out his cream earphones, the Mystic answered back "No," without breaking a sweat. Salamander gave him a ring so he put him on video call and motioned for him to be quiet. He texted, 'I'll give you the deets soon, k?'

That guy has Aquamarine as his master, but who gets to help out more? Wait. Me.

Moving on to disintegrating the rest of the structure beam by beam, the villain said, "Heard they put a rookie hero in charge now."

His sidekick guffawed. "That'll totally be a blast." Continuing to multi-task, he gazed at another monitor over to the left of him and spotted an anomaly on the sonar equipment he'd built.

"There's a tail on your six. Evade and shut down the operation."

Cataclysm got cocky, and reassured the villain-in-training. "Whoever it is can't stop me now."

"Yes, I can."

A Delta-level Mystic suddenly popped up on his radar, someone who went by the name of...

"****. Get out of there now!" Clicking some more buttons, Macho Man, (again-the sidekick's hilarious villain identity picked by his mentor), found to his dismay that his laptop decided to update at this very moment and his monitors were not cooperating...fiddlesticks.

"And I've been delaying it for this very reason!", he exclaimed, earning an exasperated sigh from his cousin.

Did I mention the villain he served was also blood-related kin? No?

That made the prospect of him getting caught by the authorities a whole other ballpark of trouble for a 17-year-old high school graduate. If his parents, currently in Japan working by the way, found out his babysitter aka his cousin had been arrested...well, say goodbye to his gap year from college!

"Poise?", Cataclysm asked, not sure if his guess was right.

It had been many years since he'd seen his childhood sweetheart. After all, he was to blame for her family's death.

It was her fault he was a villain.

Doing a handstand in the cement, she placed a hand gently in the center of the road before activating her ability.

"I am Stasis."

Instantly, his cousin froze and all havoc ceased. Peace reigned for all of two seconds.

"He's getting locked up, isn't he?", muttered Macho Man.

Knocking the temporarily suspended supervillain to the ground, she took out the comms from her former friend's ear and sarcastically hissed,

"Hikari Fujisawa, what do you think?"

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Sidebar-Y'all met the protagonist and antagonist in this chapter. However, Stasis is not a bad person. It will be clear later in future chapters what's the history between her and Cataclysm. (The music in the chapter is part of the playlist that Hikari would totally listen to in our world.)

Originality note: I came up with this story as a movie the characters from Dragonwalker (Dragonwalker/GEAR Universe series) watched during a chapter back in Autumn 2017 (and then wrote it fully). The only thing that has changed when updating now is the antagonist backstory (who y'all briefly met), and the addition of a counterpoint to the main antagonist aka YO DEL. (He sprung forth into being one day while I was out observing nature and honestly I love YO DEL. That musically-gifted hero would be my mans, but he's fictional and probably old enough to be my father. oh well. jk.) It is not inspired by nor is it plagiarism of any recent movies or series past 2017. Thank you.