Nicky awoke to the vibrations of his phone. It was 6:30 am. He hadn't got much sleep after last night's escapade. His red bed sheets ended up scrambled from all his strenuous movements. The AC unit in his room had been running all night. The morning light pierced the window of his bedroom to gave a radiance to his right eye. He sat upon the futon that he had transformed into his bed to escape the blinding gaze of the light. He inched himself over to avoid the sunlight's path. He shacked his head to attack the feeling of tiredness that had him in its grasp. He laid there as his mind gathered the schedule for the day. It was Wednesday. He had classes from 9-2. He then had a meeting right after the time frame. The time that would take him was unknown. People can be fickle. Although he thought to himself that he should know the length of the meeting as he was the President of the Club. Work with Professor Hathaway would soon follow that and last for 3 hours. Checking the time on his phone, he still had a couple of hours before he had to head to class.
"Why do I do this to myself," he muttered under his breath as he laid himself back down on the firm mattress of his improvised bed. His thoughts could only guess out of old habits from previous semesters.
"College can cause you to do some crazy things." he laughed to himself.
His weary eyes drew their attention to the plain roof above him. He sat there, letting thoughts swirl in his still waking brain. With a deep breath, he grabbed his phone and set a timer that lasted an hour. He then placed it back on the plastic shelving unit that was his part of his dressers. He closed his gray eyes as he took a deep breath to fight for what sleep he could quickly obtain within the hour.
Nicky awoke to the poking sensation on his cheek.
"Come one, wake up! The world needs you, you know!" the impatient voice of Haley the pixy drove the annoying sensation.
"I get it. You're impatient. I still have 30 minutes before I have to get moving." the young man weakly waved his right hand in attempts to swat the program that was trying to get him up.
"Seriously! Come On!" she commented before tugging on the bed sheet that covered him. Judging on how she was still making an effort to get him up, he had missed with his swing.
She would keep going until he got up. Even if he managed to defeat her, so to speak, she would merely respawn to resume pestering him. She was as stubborn as he was. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. He supposed that she was strangely a child of his genius; this was a natural part of life. Children often do inherit characteristics from their parents. However, he did question why it had to be that peculiar trait. He shrugged as he sat himself up in reluctance. He then stopped the alarm going off on his phone with a quick swipe left on the screen. He sighed as he finally allowed himself a clear view of the screen. The time was indeed 7:30 am, but to his astonishment, he had received a new text message. The message was from Annabeth, a girl that he had no memory of her voice. All she had spoken to him were through text on a screen. It was only recently that he had gotten her phone number. It was only two weeks ago that he discovered her existence. His friends had pressured him into installing a dating app on his phone called "Mutual." The app was simple: you swipe up to like, swipe down to dismiss a profile that was on screen. Annabeth's profile had intrigued him. She was a well-versed traveler judging from her pictures. They had shared similar "tags" or identifiers.
Although she was down south in Louisiana, he thought, "what's the worse that could happen," so he swiped up. The instant he did, the screen flashed with congratulations. This label identified that she had swiped gup on him also. It was a matter of time before they had begun a constant stream of communication. Communicating with her had started to be something he looked forward to doing. There was certain magic behind her soundless words that filled him with life. The desire to see her, even hear her grew with each passing day in his head, and strangely he thought his chest. He gave a tired sigh as he responded to her message, then started his routine.
It didn't take very long for him to eat a cold bowl of cereal, change his clothes, and take a pill for his seasonal allergies. Now, dressed in a red polo and black jeans, he finished his attire with a navy blue cotton jacket. Haley invited herself to sit in the chest pocket of the exterior layer of his outfit. His arms covered in scratches from last night's impromptu escape. He couldn't risk someone getting concerned about seeing his wounds. Besides, it was normal for him to do so. People might look his way if he didn't wear some sort of over covering. He checked underneath his bed to see if the blueprint was still there. It was, Nicky pushed it back further in the tiny space to conceal it more. He eventually made his way towards the mirror in the bathroom to adjust his collar. The time now was 8:00 a.m. It was when Nicky was walking out the door, the TV in the front room had caught his eye. One of his newest roommates had brought it with them when he had moved in. A national news program was playing; usually, Nicky would not pay attention to it. Due to the fact that the current news nowadays was only filled with leftist propaganda. However, this time it was different. It was about him, or more accurately, his alter ego, Pixel.
"We have breaking news! MegaCom announces details of last night's cyber attack." The women on the television reported. Ground footage of his escape played in the background. His thoughts winced in frustration. It turns out he didn't get away cleanly. Of course, there was some passerby that was able to record it, even if it was of poor quality.
"We will now go to the President of MegaCom's address."
The President of MegaCom, Daniel Vazquez, was behind a podium that had the MegaCom logo facing the camera. A giant lime green stylized M with a grey dot horizontally orbiting around bore on the front of the podium. The President looked about in his upper thirties. His grey suit was snug around his athletic appearance. He wasn't your top of mill cooperate boss. This attack wasn't the first MegaCom has handled. The damage he had caused was pocket change for the company. What was the difference in circumstances that caused them to broadcast something to the media? Was the Maximus blueprint that important? The man spoke in a slight European accent. His Country of origin was still a mystery to most of the public, Nicky was no exception.
"Good people of America, Last night MegaCom suffered an attack from an unknown assailant. The person was able to penetrate the security of the headquarter building as if it was his playground. The individual stole essential documents for the breakthrough of the century. This project's expected release date to the public would have been next year. Now it has been delayed due to the thieft of the key blueprint. Its purpose is the security and protection of the individual sector. It would have removed the fear society feels from so-called vigilantes.
"The individual can be labeled as such. For he took the law and the safety of others into his own hands. Eyewitnesses accounts report that this man was able to control creatures that had left multiple staff members severely wounded. His attire and physicality suggest that he was in his twenties. If this is all believable, then the individual's true identity is still unknown. However, they have used a public alias for some time. This infiltrator was none other than 'Pixel.'"
The spectating crowd all gasped in reaction to the President's conclusion. The guards on his sides shifted slightly. It was as if Pixel's name was a taboo to speak. The President waited for silence before he resumed continuing his address.
"MegaCom is willing to invest our assets in assisting our good officers of the law in retrieving our lost blueprint for the future of our nation. We cannot allow men like Pixel to run rampant anymore. MegaCom will do what we can to help capture Pixel, and others like him to bring about a brighter tomorrow."
The screen then cut back to the Woman who had announced the full address would be on the news outlet's website later today.
Nicky knew MegaCom was going to send an army to find the blueprint, but he didn't expect such a political move. In this address, the President of the company not only declared war on Pixel but to all cape crusaders that would get in their way. He was sure some of which were in MegaCom's pocket. His list of allies and friends was going to change for better or worse. It was small as it was. How many will he lose, until he could reveal the truth as Pixel? Could he even at this point without being shot to death?
Anyway, he couldn't think too long about his other identity. He had to get through life as himself: Organic Chemistry, Physics, and people. His phone vibrated as he closed the door behind him. It was Annabeth again. Nothing out of the mediocrity, yet. He stepped into the bustling streets of the small metropolis of Rivendale. It wasn't as large as Philadelphia or New York, but it still had the same issues. Overpopulation, burger flippers that wanted to make a career with little effort, and the occasional petty car thief. There was rain in a sprinkle around Nicky as he walked to the college campus. It wasn't far away, just about a 5-minute walk. Nicky continued his small talk conversation with Kayla over text to keep him busy as he walked towards his classes. She seemed as tired as he was. He couldn't blame her. She was a nursing student at a prestigious college in Idaho, after all. Eventually, he was able to close the conversation just as he walked into the Math and Science building. The building was his dungeon until his meeting later. He would not be able to leave it for hours. He supposed it came with his biology major, although his classes were anything except biology. He made his way to the organic chemistry classroom, clinging to the wall avoiding the large crowds of other students going about their individual lives.
Even inside the classroom, he was unable to escape the news about his other identity. Lexi, a student that shared her hometown with Nicky, had asked if someone knew about Pixel. Nicky, of course, kept quiet about any details. If he spoke on the matter, surely someone would think he was suspicious. While everyone was distracted, Nicky had Haley fly from the exterior of his jacket to an interior pocket. He couldn't risk having someone spot her, especially now.
"What about you, Nic" Lexi turned the conversation towards her quiet classmate. "Do you have any idea how Pixel got in?"
"I have no clue. Honestly, I'm not to worry about it. I don't use any of MegaCom's products." Nicky answered her
"Really? I thought someone as tech-savvy as you would." She asked back.
"Nope, I don't trust the company, so I avoid their products."
"Hmm, I didn't think of that. Do you think Pixel could have taken more than the news stated?"
"No, since he claims to be a hero, then he would have only stolen the blueprint and avoided compromising unrelated data."
"I guess that makes sense."
After the exchange of words, Nicky's schedule proceeded as usual. He completed assignments, took notes, made comments, etc. to show he was there in his classes. In the meeting, ideas brainstormed for next month's activities. He finally was able to escape working in the dungeon. He was able to resume communications with Annabeth after the meeting and during his not busy work hours. She did ask about the MegaCom incident. She expressed her distrust of the company despite having to rely on some of their tech for nursing. MegaCom was an international giant that had its hand in everything electronic. Communications: check; it sponsors several media outlets and created the Z-Phone. Medical: check; it created ways to temporary shut down the nervous system without causing severe harm to the patient. Entertainment: Check; they created the MCtower to compete with the big game companies. There are bound to be secrets in such a large entity. He did discover some secrets last night as he sought for the blueprint, but he wasn't going to disclose them over text any time soon. Nicky merely expressed relating to her distrust, and the conversation moved on to discussing occurrences of the day. The rain was still slowly coming down on his way back to his apartment.
A loud crashing sound and a scream for help brought him out of his settle state. Two cars had collided in the intersection two blocks away. Shards of metal and glass filled the street. The drivers appeared fine at a glance. They were alive, conscious, and yelling at each other. A passenger was the one calling for help as she struggled to open the door. There was a small child still trapped in one of the vehicles. Smoke started to eminent from underneath the crunched hood of the small sedan that imprisoned the child. The mother's plea grew louder out of desperation to rescue the child before the car's fuel ignited. There was no time to become Pixel; he had to act fast. He ran forward to the scene to help. Pulling his jacket sleeves down, he created makeshift gloves to wield a long piece of metal from the scene in an attempt to prier the door open. Pushing with his strength against the bar, he tried to open the broken door. Nothing, the door wouldn't move. The black smoke of the fire started to obscure his vision. Sirens were ringing in the distance. Public safety officials, help, should arrive soon. He exerted more effort into helping the child escape. The door still would not move. In the thought of a new plan, he slammed his elbow into the cracked window. Success came with the sound of breaking glass. As Nicky fought to clear the glass, a mighty gust of wind overcame the scene.
The fire was out; the danger was over. A new actor had entered the stage. A rupture in the cloud layer had occurred above the scene. A caped figure stood in a calm demeanor before gesturing for Nicky to step away from the door. Seeing the man as a giant among normal men, Nicky complied. Then with one mighty pull, the man ripped the door off the wrecked car. The women quickly snagged the crying child from the ruins. The drivers were speechless as the man shoved their cars apart with his bare hands. Then inched them back by extending the iron bracers he wore. His red cape waved in the small breeze created — his costume of earth tones resonated in the fresh sunlight. The base of silver decorated by straps of mustard yellow gave onlookers a sense of safety. Nicky was sure his muscular build had something to do with it too. He was one of the first heroes to be acknowledged by the public. Other heroes view him as a beacon of hope.
His name, Bastion.