GUESS WHOSE BACK WITH ANOTHER FIC.
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Beep beep beep beep.
A young teen with long wavy brunette hair and blue-hazel eyes was lying on his bed, his alarm shouting at him to wake up.
After groaning and stretching quickly, the teen slapped the top of his alarm to turn it off. He looked at the time only to see it was 6 a.m.
"So early… I'll just sleep for five more minutes," he muttered to himself. He snuggled back into his sheets, only to find that he couldn't fall asleep again.
"Damn that alarm," he said, getting out of bed. He looked around his room. Plastered on the walls were posters of multiple heroes.
Heroic and courageous people like Captain America, the smart and ingenious like Iron Man, and even the impulsive and strong-headed like the Hulk. He admired each of them, and that was why his room seemed decorated to the brim with them.
"They are my heroes," he said with a faint smile. Each morning, he would look at them and pay his respects to their efforts.
"Leon Gordan, you better not be sleeping!" a female voice yelled from downstairs.
"I'm not sleeping, Mom!" he replied.
He walked out of his room and headed to the next room, the bathroom. He walked groggily and slowly, which was why he didn't notice when he bumped into a muscular man before entering.
"Leo, are you good there?" asked a man wearing matching blue striped pajamas, with brown hair and green eyes.
Leon's eyes widened for a moment before replying, "Not used to seeing you here, Dad, after the whole…" His eyes wandered somewhere far off.
"Are you using the bathroom or what? I know it's your big day today," his dad said, brushing off the comment.
"Sure am. Can't wait for high school," Leon said, walking into the bathroom.
"Be quick," his dad said, watching him enter.
Leon locked the bathroom door and looked at himself one more time. He picked up his toothbrush and applied toothpaste to it. He then splashed his face with some water, applied facial soap, scrubbed, and rinsed it off.
"Looking good," he said with a bright smile, showing off his perfect teeth while snapping his fingers.
He unlocked the bathroom door to his grumbling dad.
"What were you even doing for ten minutes?" his dad muttered, passing him and entering the bathroom.
Returning quickly to his room, Leon walked toward his cupboard. Pushing aside the multiple superhero merchandise he had, he got down to business.
He looked at his windbreaker before remembering it was August—it was blazing hot. He grabbed a plain white shirt and light green shorts.
He closed his cupboard, put on his slippers, and went downstairs.
"Mom, what's for breakfast?" Leon asked.
His mom was a young woman in her mid-30s with dyed blonde hair and light brown eyes. She was wearing an apron and cooking near the kitchen.
"Leon? Wow, didn't know you could wake up so early," his mom said, turning around to face him. She had a warm smile on her face.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Leon questioned, sitting at the kitchen table.
"You never wake up. Do you know how many lates you had in middle school?" his mom said, sliding a plate of sausages, beans, and two neatly placed eggs toward him.
"What's this? We aren't British, Mom," Leon said, skeptical about the beans on his plate.
"Even more reason you should be grateful for what you have," his mom replied.
"Bu—"
His mom shoved a piece of breakfast into his mouth.
"And also be grateful that I am cooking for you," she said, releasing the fork from his mouth, "at your big age."
Leon grumbled before placing the food in his mouth. He took one bite… then another… and then another.
"C'mon, let me see that smile. You know it's good!" his mom teased.
"I-It's not that good," Leon said, taking another bite anyway.
"Whatever you say, Leo."
After finishing his breakfast, Leo went back upstairs and double-checked that he had everything in his backpack before heading out.
"Leaving already? Have a good first day, honey!" his mom called, waving him off.
"You sure you don't need me to give you a lift?"
"Nah, it's cool," Leon said, waving her off.
Even though it was only around six or seven, it was still bright thanks to the summer sun. The streets of Chicago were warm and sunny.
About five minutes into his walk, he spotted one of his middle school friends.
"Aiden, is that you?!" Leon called, jogging up to him.
"Oh! Leo! Dude, I didn't see you all summer, where were you?"
"Been home mostly," I replied.
"Nice to see ya, I guess," he said, giving me a half-shrug.
"Yeah, you too. Thought you moved or something."
"Nah, just… summer stuff. My parents dragged me to like five different states. I swear I lived in the backseat of our car."
"That bad?"
"Dude, I saw more rest stops than actual landmarks."
I laughed. "Sounds rough."
Aiden nudged my shoulder. "Trust me, staying home was the better option."
"Eh… depends on the day," I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "What, your mom start waking you up at dawn or something?"
"Worse. She cooked beans for breakfast."
Aiden laughed at me before saying, "See you later! My school starts so fucking early."
"See you then," I replied as he ran off.
Since Leon had woken up early, he found himself in a very awkward situation where he was bored. Not to mention, because of the "Blip," where multiple individuals who had gotten snapped returned, everyone seemed to be in another mindset. Even Leon himself still wasn't used to having his dad around.
In the streets, people who called themselves S.W.O.R.D. were constantly around. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to think they were a good organization with a good cause, cleaning up leftover tech, mapping energy spikes, and vacuuming up anything that shouldn't exist on Earth.
But for Leon, he thought they were there from the government to monitor people. He didn't deny that they helped; their presence just felt unnerving.
Walking down a block, he saw a team of S.W.O.R.D. members huddled around a building. But today their gear buzzed louder than normal. A high, whining sound drilled into the air.
"Hey!" one of the techs shouted. "The core's destabilizing…Someone shut it down!"
Leon looked toward the source of the shout and saw a round piece of technology. It had a blue stone fixed into it, and although it was dissected to the brim, it still looked dangerous. It started to shake violently. Leon unconsciously took a step back.
"Oh no…" he muttered.
BOOM!
A torrent of fire shot upward, ripping through the air as the entire building was swallowed by a flood of smoke and debris. Windows shattered outward like fragile glass raindrops, the shockwave bursting across the street and rattling the ground beneath Leon's feet.
"Woaahhh… that's not good at all. Not at all," Leon said, covering his mouth in shock.
Before he could react, a nearby surge of purplish-blue energy shot toward him. He tried to dodge, but it passed straight into him. He clutched the area where the energy blast hit, only to feel… nothing.
"W-What happened?" he asked himself. His thoughts were hazy, slipping out of focus. What was that blue thing that just entered him?
What if it was radioactive? What if it was something dangerous? What if it was poison?
His heartbeat thudded unevenly in his ears.
"I gotta get out of here," he said, taking a shaky step back before quickly walking off.
"YOU THERE, STOP!!" a loud voice called out. Leon didn't turn back and kept on walking.
"Nope," he whispered. "Nope, nope, nope. That didn't happen."
Boots pounded against the pavement behind Leon. His legs felt like jelly, but some part of him screamed to move, to run, before they got too close.
Behind him, a S.W.O.R.D. agent's radio crackled.
"Level Two anomaly detected," a voice said. "Repeat: unknown tachyon surge. It's moving."
His breath hitched.
Moving.
"As in… me?"