Falling for a Superhero

Chapter FortySix-"The True Origin Story of the Proliator"

"It seemed like forever ago...me and Vega being best friends. We did everything together because even our parents were two pairs of strong friendships that lasted throughout their whole lives. I mean, life was just perfect for all of us. We were basically family," Nik started. "There was one day when Dastan and I were coming home from soccer practice with Mateo and of course Dastan forgot his key. I was joking with him and calling him an idiot, but when he left to get the spare, he took forever and then Mateo remembered he had another spare in his bag. So he opened the door and we left Dastan outside as some learn-your-lesson joke, but then we heard voices on the other side of their living room's sliding doors.

"It was Mr. Vega trying to cajole someone into not doing what they had come he for and to let him check his wife. Suddenly, there was a rattle and then we heard a muffled gun shot. By the time Mateo and I nearly ripped the door off its hinges, we saw Con completely tackle some guy in a suit and he grabbed him to pin him against the wall but he was dropped dead. At first I thought that it was Con who had grabbed the gun and shot at the guy or maybe the gun went off on accident, but then I saw the Vegases on the ground, each one with a bullet through their chest. I looked out the window in their living room and saw Dastan standing there, his emotions worn perfectly on his face while Con was literally crying out for this to be a joke and cradling his parents. Mateo, however, only walked over to the dead guy in the suit and checked for a pulse...which was absent...with no external injuries at all."

"So this 'Con' guy is dangerous then," Kenneth assumed after Nik had finished his story which proved he had some sort of feelings other than a surface level shield of emotions. I guess it wasn't specified that Con was Dastan's older brother.

"Con's different now. We all are," Nik defended. "The next few weeks changed for everyone. My father filled me in that the Vegas had some sort of powers, and lucky for me, I got to experience it with them."

"So...you have powers?" Kenneth asked, adding a hand to my knee.

"No, they do," Nik assured. "But they got them together, in a way. Con got a burst of energy and was enthusiastic about everything for a while, even though he was mourning his parents and trying to figure it all out, but at that same time, he didn't know that every time he touched someone, he took their energy or transferred someone else's pain or sensations leftover. It makes sense seeing as pain is largely electrical impulses throughout the body and in the brain. He developed that physical ability that's altered from Dastan's powers and some enhanced strength. But he wasn't really smart about it so he was too stubborn to let me explain to him what was going on. He objected at first but eventually listened to Mateo...after all, he knew what exactly to say."

"What do you mean?" Kenneth asked.

"Mateo is a genius. Vega was smart because he had to work at it, but Mateo was just intelligent without trying. So he had mental powers. He didn't need super strength or super speed because he could read minds. And if he ever made contact with someone, he could pick out any memory or little detail he wanted. He was so smart that he developed some of his powers earlier than the others, but they really came in full swing after his parents' death. So he knew Con well enough to tell him in a way that he'd want to hear," Nik explained.

"And how was that?" Kenneth asked with a frown.

"Using girls mostly," Nik smirked. I rolled my eyes. "He figured that the better he controlled his powers, the more he could make girls feel whatever he wanted in that way and that was that. It took him forever to control it though. Just like it took Vega forever to get his powers in the first place. He should've gotten them right when he saw what happened with his parents, but he didn't somehow. He just sort of fell into a depression and--...did he ever tell you about it?"