1.

February 22nd, 2019, morning

Vulcan shuts his locker, eyes blinking maliciously at him. Those same eyes that watched him through the worst experience of his 16 years alive, the only difference is at that time, it was in interest. Those eyes that stared at him pitiably as he sat alone with his phone in his face, the light just as malicious. His head throbbed, he hadn't released the flames today.

In a world of supes, how they got this differed from person to person making his particular powers and his situation all the more complicated.

But no one knew exactly why people awakened powers. It eluded scientists and bright minds alike. People whose parents had no powers, people who had not gotten their powers from an acid bath or some magical concussion.

No one knew why normal people got powers that seemingly appeared from thin air. Vulcan was no exception to this.

"Hey meat" a football slaps his face with the grace of a rock, his glasses clattering on the ground melodically. When did he start thinking of himself as his alter ego instead of his real name? The only thought in his head from the pain, pain had become less of a problem for him ever since his awakening, ever since the nightmare plagued his dreams.

His eyes widened less from surprise and more from familiarity as he saw Thompson's smile, his social standing most likely surging as he had just put a lower being in its place, a trick he had not long ago started using, it became far easier for him to be Vulcan if he thought of humans as being lesser than himself. A crowd gathered waiting for the performance to unfold, he might have been happy if that was the case

"END HIM" The voice in his head resounded, 'Not yet' he simply stated, what scared him wasn't the buffoon who thought degrading him would help his life, it wasn't the voice that encouraged his sociopathic tendencies, it wasn't even the increasing pain in his head that had only gotten worse the past three years it had started.

It was the fact that he wouldn't care if the voice was his subconscious, he wouldn't care if he was the villain he paraded himself as. He stared Thompson dead in the eye, his eyes were that of a dead man.

Thompson recoiled slightly at the sheer amount of indifference to his expression. 'Oops, can't forget the mask.' His expression quickly morphed into fear, his eyes weren't as easy to change though.

With his girlfriend in hand, Thompson walked toward him, his girlfriend, Audrey's crystal eyes shone with amusement. A right hook swiftly planted itself on his cheek, seeing the hit coming a mile away he decided not to dodge it, promptly slamming into his locker, not a second later followed by a groan and him rolling on the floor.

" You don't get to look at her like that nerd '' Who calls anyone a nerd these days? Dumbass.

It wasn't long before the crowd of bored high school students started taking pictures and videos. It sickened him that he had to put on a mask not only when he was a supervillain, but also every day he went to school. He hated everyone around him, the thought of having to deal with this every day was enough to sicken him. The hate bubbled inside of him, it burned.

He clamped it down with well-practiced ease only increasing the pain, stuttering out a " S-s oory Th-Thompson, p-plea-se d-don't h-hit m-e" ending the sentence with a pitiful shriek and a tremble to his shoulders.

Thompson though was not having it today it seemed. 'This is going to be a long day,' he thought as the punches rained down on his face. It took up to four people to restrain Thompson.

The throbbing in his head increased, maybe he should have listened to the voice.

December 22nd, 2018

Audrey decided it could be fun if she flirted a little with the loner kid and being the loner kid desperate for any girl's attention he played along.

They talked for a few days and eventually found themselves in a park alone, the chills of the air made Simon shiver a bit.

Audrey asked him to be her boyfriend. Simon knew that a confession from a girl so high up the social ladder didn't make much sense, but Simon wanted to hold on to that illusion, so he deceived himself, adjusted his glasses, and smiled responding to it.

Audrey's smile turned feral as she laughed in his face, the laugh spread like wildfire, as he heard the bushes burst into laughter, Thompson and his friends came out with phones in hand. Simon's expression turned to one of realization, he wasn't surprised, he knew deep down that this was the only reason anyone would talk to him.

He has been depressed ever since his dad left him and his family 3 years ago, life was hard with his sister, mom, and him, he couldn't remember how many times he cried before steeling himself to never shed a tear again, tears weren't going to help him. He found that resolve quickly weakening right now.

"That was hilarious Audrey, he thought you were serious." One of Audrey's friends, a short girl with blonde hair, laughed with tears in her eyes. Although everyone was laughing, Thompson only smiled, but it showed no teeth- he knew that smile. It was surprising that he had recently toned down on the bullying, only shoving him in his locker a few times.

Simon saw him put down the camera and he knew that meant he was going to start getting violent, so he stood up and ran.

He ran into the forest beside the park and did not look back. His breath hitched when heard the rustles of the leaves, only encouraging him to not dare stop pumping his legs. If he had been paying attention he would have seen the warning signs he passed by.

He heard a growl not too far away and his whole body shook from fear. A massive brown grizzly walked out from the trees, it looked like a kangaroo on steroids, only on four legs with sharp big teeth. Simon momentarily forgot how to breathe, he knew in his head to avoid this thing he had to slowly back away or try to scare it away. But recent events clouded his mind. He was always the rational logical type, so he wasn't sure what possessed him as he turned his back and fled.

And like the twig he was, he flew as a freight train-like force slammed into him. The bear swiftly jumped on him and clamped its massive maw on his shoulder.

He was gonna die today, no two ways about it. Tears leaked from his eyes like raindrops, the pain made his head black in and out.

He was scared and sad, he felt betrayed. The pain in his head beats like a heartbeat, slowly getting louder, slowly getting faster. Sadness turned to anger as he recalled recent events. His dad leaving his mother because she was too 'emotional,' his sister ridiculing him because of his little to none social skills. The utter pain and suffering called school.

Simon heard it, he wasn't sure how or when, but he did; "BURN." Like a purpose, pain flared on his arms as sparks came to life before it combusted into a beautiful blue flame. The most beautiful poison he ever laid eyes on.

Like an insect drawn to light, it covered the bear, the oxidized flames melted the bear to its bones. Its bark-like screams lasted no more than 10 seconds. As the fire left his hands, as he heard the bear scream, the pain left, it felt exhilarating, it felt good.

He finally could understand why Thompson bullied, why the strong stepped on the weak. It wasn't because he was a 'nerd.' God, it was never about that. It was holding power over something, over someone. He smiled, and on that day, Vulcan was born.

February 22nd, 2019, hours later

Vulcan recalled the events as he walked home with bruises. After the 'accident' (what they decided to call it), he had become a villain. Going in the night became an almost daily routine, to just release his flames. At first, he did nothing but just play around with the fire. It didn't take long before he started burning other people though.

His sister had gone out to hang out with some friends and his mom was at work, because of this, she could not come to meet the school principal. His injuries weren't serious but he was promised that they would talk about it, suspension was also a possible punishment, so he was alone in this endeavor.

Walking home like this was not the best of experiences, especially when it was because of the person who caused his less than pleasant awakening. After said awakening, the hospital was called (by who, he had no clue, maybe Thompson grew a conscience).

He was taken to the hospital. Where he had to stay and heal for a week, his injuries healed so quickly, that it bordered on almost superhuman. The doctor that monitored his health was weirdly quiet about this and he didn't know why. His mom constantly nagged him about making the wrong choices, when he had started none of it.

His sister only shook her head in disappointment. Well, nothing new.

After getting into the habit of talking to himself, he started becoming a little more open to the voice. "BURN" His head throbbed once again, the voice in his head usually didn't talk much but it was strangely talkative today, not that he ever tried communicating with it, today it seemed almost excited.

It wasn't long before he got to the house. A nice family home with an even nicer garage. He stood on the lawn and just stared, before taking a deep breath as he walked up to the door. Opening the door and walking in he heard the sounds of the TV.

Ignoring it, he went up to his room, the wooden stairs creaked with each step. Opening up the door to his room, a bed and a reading table awaited him. Simon threw his bag on the floor and jumped on his bed. Vision darkened as his body became limp.

WAKE UP. Eyes opened up from the abrupt message. He looked at his wall clock. His father had given it to him as a birthday gift. Turning his head, Simon decided not to think about it.

What he did think about was the fact it was 8:00 pm, he opened up his wardrobe, put on his trademark bird mask and cloak, and his body tensed for action. He leaped through his window and ran into the alleyway. The darker side of the city. jumping from wall to wall as his flames propelled him.

It felt so good to finally let it out. Simon thought as he sat on top of a building. Bright lights surrounded the city, people walked without a care in the world with fights breaking out more often than not. Villains and heroes were strangely inactive today. It wasn't long till he heard screams, probably someone mugging someone.

Vulcan just found his target.

Simon slipped into the familiar mask, No, he was Vulcan now. Vulcan jumped, the wind energized him as ran to where he heard the scream, the familiar sparks came to life.

His grin sharpened seeing a tall man pinning a much smaller man to the wall. Vulcan's arm shot up and the flames voiced their presence.