Day 9 NaomiNagtegaal4 - DC

Hi again! The next one-shot is a pretty intense origin story for naominagtegaal4's OC superhero, Lucy Williams. She's part of the DC universe, a metahuman who (I'm told) later has contact with The Flash. Enjoy!

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"A man can change the world with a thought, for better or worse he can change it, but what can a teenage girl do? Even with all of these gender equality rights that exist, there is still an obvious difference between man and woman, and even more of a difference between adult and child. So what can a teenage girl do to make a difference?"

My speech to my class was mostly a run on to waste time but in the end... "You see the world can be changed even by teenagers, through the voice of adults, and women through the voice of men."

The classroom bursts into applause. My cheeks warm due to my embarrassment. My words may not have been accurate, but they were moving and that was all they needed to be. The words came from the heart and moved my classmates' souls. I was going to witness a great change in the world. My family is going to Central City to see the revolutionary, Doctor Wells, start up the particle accelerator.

Am I excited? Yes. Am I a nerd? Maybe, but who cares? It's one thing to be a geek or a nerd, another to witness something great, and I can't wait to go to Central City to witness Doctor Wells' invention at work.

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Later in Central City

"Justin, let's go!"

My brother is persistently annoying. He does everything to piss me off, including going as slow as possible when I want him to go fast.

"What's your hurry? We are here all week, we don't need to explore everything tonight, we literally just got here." Justin had a point, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm super curious and excited.

"There is so much to see, so much to do, and only a week to do it! How can you limit yourself to just seeing part of the city?"

Justin sighs and speeds up his pace so that he can keep up with my skipping, and running. Central City is so much bigger and more amazing than Midway, the sights cause energy to flow through me.

"Just remember Lucy, we have to be back at the hotel on time for dinner."

"Way to be a buzzkill, bro. Yeah, we'll get back to the hotel at an okay time." I can't see how he can suppress the amazement he must have. How can he not be freaking out right now?

We get home from exploring Central City, a little later than planned.

"Lucy, Justin, where in the world have you been? Your father and I have been worried sick, being home at ten pm is nowhere near to being home for dinner!"

"It's not like we were going to have any family time or anything, we would probably just have eaten dinner and then dad and you would be right back to work. Just like always." I am pissed off at how my parents don't seem to want to be part of me, and my brother's lives. I'm sick of being held to rules by people I barely interact with.

"Lucy, hold your tongue! You were given a curfew and blatantly disobeyed it!"

This is too much. I know that I came back late just to spite my parents, but honestly, I barely thought they would miss me. After all, when I am around they don't pay any attention to me.

I let out a frustrated growl, and run to me and my brother's room.

I don't leave the room until the next morning after my parents leave for business meetings. If they would only just try to understand what it's like to be me. I'm different than everyone I know, I don't fit into any individual clique at school, and I can't help but be passionate about my projects for school.

"Lucy, are you alright?" Justin is so caring, he's the perfect little brother.

"Yeah, it's just that last night, I was fed up with mom and dad. I'll be alright for now, but I think I should avoid Mom and Dad for a while." Justin shows his understanding with a nod of his head, and for a while, we just sit on the suite couch in silence. Our presence is enough to make us happy.

After a while Justin speaks up, "Tonight's the night, tonight we will witness something great, something that will change the world."

A smile spreads across my face. Tonight's the night. Tonight I will witness something greater than I have ever seen before. If staying in this hotel room with my brother is all I do before we go to S.T.A.R. Labs, I'll be happy.

That's exactly what we do. The entire afternoon we hang out doing all kinds of crazy things. We are bonding more today than we ever have before. It's nice to be close to your siblings. It's nice to have at least one member of the family that I'm not trying to run away from.

"Lucy, Justin, Let's go! We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago!" My mother is irritated because she lost track of time, and made us all late.

"Mom, we already have our shoes on." Justin tries to rationalize with our mom.

As soon as my mom is ready we head out the door and to S.T.A.R. Labs.
My heart flutters with excitement. It's truly going to be a great evening.

"Come on Justin, it's starting!" Dr. Wells is about to do a speech. If all goes well only a little while after the speech, the future will be revolutionized.

The crowd hushes as Dr. Wells begins to speak. He speaks with hidden messages behind his words, that I could only decipher if they were written out. The words fill the crowd with awe and inspiration. I only hope that one day my words will cause the same effect.

The speech ends on the perfect note leaving the audience with nothing but time to ponder over it. We won't be able to see anything when the particle accelerator turns on so... An idea forms in my head, so brilliant that I know Justin will agree with it.

"Justin, let's go to the roof. I bet there'll be an awesome view."

"View of what? We won't be able to see anything that has to do with the particle accelerator."

"No, but we wouldn't here either."

Justin immediately changes his expression to fit his understanding of my plan.

We head up the fire exit staircase. It's bout five flights before we reach the roof. I swing the door open and run to the edge of the roof.

The view is jaw-dropping. A beautiful lake spreads to the horizon only bordered by buildings so tall they could probably touch the stars. People crowd below, anxious to see if Dr. Well's invention will work. A breeze blows against me, I close my eyes, and a scene plays through my mind of the city below as I fly.

"Wow," Justin speaks the only word to describe the beauty of it all.

Today, everything will change.

Huh? Who's that guy? An older looking man sneaks around the roof carrying a briefcase. What in the world is he doing? He looks very suspicious.

"Justin, shush." I point out the suspicious man to my brother. He nods his understanding, and we both crouch so that we're not seen.

The man disappears around the corner, and after a couple minutes, Justin and I stand up.

"I wonder what that guy was doing?" Justin comments.

"Probably his job, technically we're not supposed to be up here."

"True, but you're right, the view is amazing."

"Hey there is a glass dome over there, we should check it out!" My curiosity is stronger than it has ever been before. The simplest things seem so intriguing.

"I'll stay here, you can go check it out." Justin dismisses my idea.

"Alright, your loss." I trot over to the glass dome part of the roof and peer inside.

"Augh!" My brother's yelp of terror catches my attention and I turn to face him, but he isn't there.

"Justin!"

I scream for my brother, and then I scream his name again, but this time in agony.

My skin rips open as my eyes get blinded by the power and energy washing over me. What's happening? Why does everything hurt? It burns! It hurts so much! Why won't it stop?

The pain doesn't stop, all I can see is white blinding my eyes. I'm engulfed in radiated flames, and can't get out.

I'm going to die.

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Some unknown time later

'Justin!'

The memory screams in my mind every night, a sort of taunting recall of the last thing I can remember. I can't remember who Justin is, only the emotion I feel every time I hear the name. I can't remember what happened before or after that moment. To say that I feel whole, undivided, or even free would be a lie, in fact, I feel empty, torn, and trapped.

All I know is this prison for people like me, people who are different, people who changed on the fateful day of the particle accelerator explosion. I don't know what I was called before that day, all I know is that now...

I am a Metahuman...

I am Discharge.