[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Mason Warner + Alice Morrow

Dominic shook his head, amused, “We’ve gotta get you a name before he finds one he likes too much.” Mason may be many things, but a gifted marketer he was not. At least he was trying though. It was reassuring to see, or at least hear, how excited someone like Mason was about the thought of real life super heroes. Alice being excited about it wasn’t all that unexpected, she’d turned up today in an Iron Man hoodie after all. He rubbed his arm a little, it hadn’t hurt all that much, but it had been a strange experience to suddenly feel that sensation come from someone that wasn’t moving. Alice was obviously delighted, even if they didn’t fully understand what was going on, it was clear that something was. He turned back so that he was facing Alice, “What do you think? A super hero team could be amazing. Think how it could make people feel? All this shit stuff happens in the world, but then people get powers, and they use them to save lives? What better could we do?” He wondered just how much Alice could absorb. He could absorb and fire electricity, but he was still extremely limited in how much juice he seemed to have naturally. Alice had no default amount it seemed, but how much could she stop? A punch… A blow from a bat… A bullet..?

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Dominic Weaver + Mason Warner

Nodding eagerly, Alice displayed that she was completely in favour of that suggestion. She’d grown up reading comic books, but she’d never wanted to be a super hero. Such amazing beings didn’t exist. Hadn’t existed. Clearly now they did. She was standing with two of them. She was one of them. “I never thought anything like this would happen… I mean… who would… How could I not say yes? I can really help people now, I can go out and help them.” She smiled, amused by Mason’s dedication to his nicknames, but Dominic was right, “Maybe we should spend a bit more time thinking about super hero names. I don’t think they’re something we should rush into. Anyway, I didn’t win Prom Queen, so it’d be kind of dishonest to call myself that.” She stuck her tongue out playfully. She didn’t blame Mason, she was imagining dramatic scenes, rescuing people from burning buildings and stepping in to halt bank heists. What she wasn’t sure of was what those people would shout out as she appeared to save the day. That was putting something of a crimp in it. “We could spend maybe the next few days thinking of ideas and throw them around when we meet up again?”

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[Mason Warner]

Training?

“Too late,” Mason told Dom firmly, the most impish of grins on his face. “PQ is stuck in my head forever. Now I just need to think of something for you… Mr Sparky Hands…”

As he said it, he had the horrible realisation that the others probably wouldn’t recognise that as a joke suggestion. Saran-Man had done some real damage to his reputation.

“I think these powers are pretty good compensation for a lack of shiny crown,” he said, amused. “Besides, no one’s gonna argue with whatever you decide to call yourself with this kind of firepower.”

Mason would like to see someone try and take Alice on after he’d seen what she’d done to that poor shelving unit. It was kind of scary – thank God these powers had fallen into Alice’s hands. In fact, they seemed to have lucked out across the board. As far as he could tell, none of them were teetering on the edge of super-villainy. Claire was a shy artist, Persephone an honest waitress, Will had been on the goddamn police force… They had the makings of a team here, he was sure.

“You’re right, there’s nothing better we could do with these gifts. We have a real chance to give people hope. It’s already giving me so much…” He smiled, an oddly bittersweet smile that he didn’t really understand himself.

He took a breath, shaking himself back into a lighter mood. “Sounds good to me. I think we should gather the others too, see if they want to get involved. I’m sure they will!” he added happily. “What’s not to love?”

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[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Alice Morrow + Mason Warner

“He’s right though, I don’t think anyone will be too bothered about your Prom Queen when they see what you can do. That’ll really impress them, a hell of a lot more than any plastic piece of jewellery you got in school.” Dom shrugged, grimacing at Mason’s persistence in having his name idea approved of. “They won’t disagree, but it’s not exactly going to impress people or strike fear into criminals is it, let’s see if we can put our minds into creating a name that can do that. Alice is right. If we want to do this, if we want to really be… super heroes, we’ve gotta think about it.” He liked that idea, over the next few days, if they were thinking about what they might call themselves, then they would be more concerned with that than doubts. He had no intention to endanger anyone, but doubts could destroy any project before it got off the ground, and he wanted them riding high on the excitement of what was happening to them here. A quick glance at Alice confirmed that it was unlikely she was going to be coming down off her high anytime soon. He grinned, feeling the excitement creeping up within him again. It was impossible not to pick up on it. Alice was positively vibrating off the floor, and Mason’s voice conveyed the excitement his face no longer could. It was like they’d stepped into a Marvel movie, but there were no cameras, no tennis balls on sticks to indicate CGI. It was all actually happening to them right now. “Let’s see what else we can do!”

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Dominic Weaver

Nodding eagerly, Alice could already feel her mind kicking into gear, thinking of names, catch lines, costumes. She’d have to talk to Steven about that, he was much better with design than she would ever be. Her mind froze. Steven. How would she explain this to him? Her world had turned upside down, and in truth, he was the only consistent part of it even before everything had changed. She couldn’t keep this a secret from him, not for long. He’d start asking questions, questions that she didn’t know how to answer. No. Alice would have to find a way to tell him, to explain what was happening to her. Admittedly she wasn’t exactly sure what was happening to her, but she could at least try to explain something to her best friend. He knew about the crash, she’d even seen him yesterday, but hadn’t had any idea how to even begin to explain the fact that she’d died and been brought back to life. If she’d been religious she might have heralded it as a miracle. Maybe it was, but all she’d managed to tell him so far was that she’d survived the crash mostly unscathed. That she’d been lucky. It was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth. She’d have to deal with the consequences of that later. The thought of continuing to experiment perked her up though, “Yeah!” If she could store up things and release it, what else could she do? How could she use her power? What about Dom? He only had enough juice for one bolt, so did he have to pause to recharge? “Do you have to like… take a break between throwing lightning to recharge? Or can you… I dunno, do both at the same time? So you could like, keep it up?”

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[Mason Warner]

Training?

Dom was obviously focused on finding the perfect names for a deeper reason than just the childish excitement Mason was experiencing. His marketing brain, hyper-optimised for just this kind of PR purpose, was whirring and buzzing with activity. Mason could practically hear the little cogs turning. He wanted something stronger, something with gravitas. Prom Queen, Saran-Man… not quite cutting it.

He could brain-storm, if that was what Dom wanted. He could really, honestly try to come up with something for any one of them. Surely somewhere amidst all the nonsense and jokes in Mason’s mind there were a couple of good ideas tucked away.

He nodded enthusiastically at the idea of continuing to experiment. It was fun to see just what they could do. It would be even more fun once they got together and started working as a team to complement one another with their own skillsets. He was already having visions of being launched by Alice as an invisible cannonball, although he didn’t really know if he could survive such a tactic… Mason might have to reconsider his imaginary role as tactician.

Mason decided to help, lugging the car battery closer to Dominic. “I bet you could act as a circuit breaker too, if you can redirect currents. Or trip fuses with overloads…” He smiled, happy in his comfort zone. He’d started his place in the world of work as an electrician, after all. If anyone could help Dominic think of practical uses for his power, it was him.

“So, what are you gonna try and do first?”

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[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Dominic Weaver + Mason Warner

Dom cocked an eyebrow at both suggestions. They both made sense, although Mason’s idea clearly came from a background understanding of electricity beyond that of a normal high school student. Unfortunately that also put it beyond Dominic’s understanding of electricity. He nodded though, “I’m not sure how well I can redirect stuff, I haven’t tried it much. I can pull it in and fire it out, but that’s all I’ve managed so far…” He shrugged, “I’m up for anything,” he pointed at Alice, “Let’s try your idea first, then if that works, we need to work out how exactly we test that. Especially if I’m trying to overload something, I don’t want to electrocute one of you by accident or anything.” He moved over to the duffle, unzipping it and exposing the heavy black car batteries. He unscrewed the caps on the terminals, then brushed his fingers across the contacts. They sparked at the contact, and Dom grinned. “Ok guys, you should step back, let’s see if I can act like a circuit.” He stood, raising one hand and sighting on the same shelf again, the flames had died out, though there was still a faint haze surrounding the metal unit. He steadied himself, and then raised another hand to the contacts on the car battery. He let out a breath, then released the very careful control he had been holding over the instincts that had apparently come with these abilities. There was a brief pause, then a crackle, sparks fell from the contacts, then stopped before hitting the ground. They reversed mid-flight, soaring up towards his palm. A snap echoed through the warehouse, and suddenly Dom and the battery were linked. He looked up at the shelving again, determination etched on his face. He cleared thoughts of circuits from his mind, that wasn’t how he operated; it was about feeling, not technicalities. He felt the storm at his core felt it building, filling like a great reservoir, then he opened the flood gates. The sparks linking his hand and the battery thickened, then abruptly cut out. The thick string of plasma connecting him and the shelving petered out as well, it had lasted as long as the last bolt he had fired, but seemed to have far more kick than the last. “That seemed to work… Now how do we test the next thing?”

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Dominic Weaver

Alice jumped in excitement at the apparent success of her idea. Dominic had demonstrated that he could act almost as a wire, simply moving electricity from place to place, not just absorbing it then releasing it. It might have been simple, much simpler than Mason’s ideas, which also meant very little to her, but it had worked, and it had apparently worked easily. Maybe that was just Dominic though; he did manage to make everything seem easy. She’d managed to access that strange reservoir of power, but she certainly didn’t feel as in control of it as Dominic appeared to be. She wondered if it had just come that naturally to him, or if part of it was an act, she couldn’t imagine taking to something so naturally. Even with cookery she’d struggled at first, it had taken a while for her to get the hang of not burning things. Even things as simple as pasta had seemed difficult. She wasn’t sure where the love of it had come; maybe it was because of the challenge, or the satisfaction of producing something that she’d thought was too difficult. “So cool!” Alice started looking about the warehouse, as though a large fuse box would suddenly present itself. That was about where her knowledge of electronics ended. “Ummmm, could we find like… a fuse box or circuit breakers or something? Would that help work out if you can do…” She awkwardly gestured in the direction of Mason’s voice, “That stuff.”

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[Mason Warner]

Training?

Mason stared, mouth agape, as Dominic further demonstrated the impressive power of his ability. It was such a wild beast of a power – the sparks and bolts carried such a fearsome energy and by their very nature lit up the entire room, casting Dominic in blinding light. He wondered how much Dominic had to think about in order to control the flow of electricity and how much was instinctive. It seemed like a much more active power than Mason’s. Mason was simply the passive recipient of invisibility; a spectator in his own head.

Alice was definitely on a high. She was just so enthused about everything, as though there was a suppressed supply of excitement all rushing to the surface now that she had her own power and could finally be truly happy for everyone else without it being tainted by resentment and disappointment.

“Depending on how old this building is, the wiring could use fuse boxes or circuit breakers, but they both essentially do the same job, as you know,” Mason added hurriedly, not wanting to assume ignorance. “Tripping a circuit is caused by an excessive flow of current. You don’t want that going on for a long time ‘cause the wires will overheat and, y’know, whoosh.” Mason raised his arms in his best, Oscar-worthy impression of flames.

He looked around. “So I reckon you could easily overload the circuit, but I’m also wondering if you could break it yourself by somehow blocking the flow of current by redirecting it away from the circuit. That would immediately shut off power on that specific circuit… Could be useful for sneaking around in the dark,” he added with a grin, his mind still firmly on the possibility – no, practically certainty – of becoming a superhero.

“This place does have power, right?”

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[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Mason Warner + Alice Morrow

Dominic shrugged, “It has lights, so I guess that there was power once. The last guy vacated pretty quick though so I don’t think the bills have been paid for a while. I’ll look into it though.” For a moment he thought through exactly what they were planning right now. Pouring more electricity into the old and decrepit wiring of an even older and more decrepit building seemed like it might not be the most intelligent move. Cutting it off might not be as dangerous, but he wasn’t sure what might happen either way. He scratched the back of his head in thought. “Would that be safe? I know we’re sort of playing with fire here, but I’d rather not actually set the whole place on fire if I overload the wrong thing…” He looked around, then back down at the car battery beside him. “You used to be an electrician right Mason? Could you make some sort of circuit in here if I got you the right things?” It would give Mason the opportunity to do something more practical; especially considering how limited he was in terms of moving about the city now. If he didn’t make any progress with his own power, at least he would be helping someone else make progress with their ability. “If you give me a list of stuff you need I can pick it up and bring it here in the next couple of days…”

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Mason Warner + Dominic Weaver

“Oh my god that would be so cool! It’d be like building a proper training place for us as super heroes.” It was possible to see Alice’s eyes widen as the realisation dawned. “Aaaahhhh, it’ll be like the batcave! We’ll have our own batcave! Except not a cave… And without bats… I hope…” She was grinning so widely that she surely couldn’t maintain it for long. It really sounded like they might be able to create a proper super hero team, something like the Avengers, or the Justice League. She wondered what they would call themselves, not just their own names, but would they have a name for their team? She was excited about this opportunity, about having super powers, about being part of a group in a way she never had been before. She’d had friends at school, and she still had Steven, but this was something very different. She was part of something bigger than herself. For the first time in her life Alice felt as if she could really make a difference. “We should make stuff for all of us, it would be cool to be able to come here and like… train or something. I guess we’d have to train pretty hard to be super heroes. I mean… Bruce Wayne trains all the time to be Batman.”

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[Mason Warner]

Training?

“I’m going to have to take a look at the entire system before I let you anywhere near a light switch, dude,” Mason said with a grin. “It would be sweet if we could set up some kind of generator for you to power this place with… but that might be quite difficult, paying bills might be an easier option.” He fixed his eyes suddenly on Dom, frowning. “I can contribute to paying for bills, rent, maintenance – you know that, right?”

He nodded at Dom’s safety concerns. “It’s safe as long as the wiring’s up to code and you don’t go crazy with the electrocution,” he said slowly. “So uh… maybe best not to try that one out just yet, yeah.”

Mason was feeling the pressure of being the only one with any knowledge about electricity now. He didn’t want to be responsible for burning down the building. For all that he understood that he was definitely somewhat of an expert in the field, it still would have been nice to have someone to check things over with. He was going to have to brush up on his practical skills again for sure. He’d been on the managerial side of things for a while now, after all, but hey. It was like riding a bike, probably… right?

“I could try and build something, yeah!” he said excitedly, energised by Alice’s squeals of enthusiasm. “Maybe something on a smaller scale, reduce the risk of warehouse combustion,” he added swiftly. He liked this idea. It was a good project for him to distract himself with and one that had potentially fewer risks than trying to experiment within the walls of the building itself. He was still going to have to make the place safe too, of course, but he could do so with less pressure than if he knew Dominic wasn’t going to be potentially pouring megawatts of power into it.

“You know… It’s not quite a batcave without the bat part and the cave part,” Mason teased gently. “But yeah, we can have all kinds of equipment – it’ll be just like a superhero base straight out of a movie!”

Well, it could be, if they had infinite resources. For now, a poor imitation would be more than exciting enough for Mason.

He flexed his muscles. “I don’t need to train. You can’t see right now but,” he let out a fake grunt, “I’m actually super ripped. Bruce Wayne got nothin’ on me!”

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[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + Mason Warner + Alice Morrow + music

When Mason commented on the building being up to code Dominic looked about the decrepit and damp warehouse. “I personally would not go on record saying that this place is up to code. I’d hope so, but I picked the lease up for cash, from a guy who also paid cash. Who knows what else he was avoiding here.” Dom gathered from Mason’s tone that the invisible man was looking at him. He shrugged, “Sure, I try to be a fair man, if you want to, and can pay, then we can work something out. How about you come with me to pick up some stuff to test out my power? “I’m not worried about you guys paying because I see this as an investment, and I have the money to spend on it. I’m only 27, it’s not like I’m draining my retirement fund for it. If you can help though, that’s great, because I’m not as wealthy as I’d really like to be.” He grinned, “But talking about money is boring. We can build our own little Avengers complex in here. It’s not like we can test or train our powers on the street is it? It might be nice to start building something to see how much we can do.” He nodded at Mason’s ‘grunt’, smirking in response to the joke. “Interesting that you only bring this up now that you can’t show it off…”

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Dominic Weaver + Mason Warner

Alice felt suddenly awkward when the topic of money came up. As it was, she was just barely scraping by on rent, and it was only thanks to the kindness of her manager that she ate properly most days. When going out she had to weigh the cost of a bus against the time it would take to walk there. She certainly didn’t have the money to help buy things for the warehouse. She’d never really meshed well enough with a foster family to be fully adopted, and it had meant there was very little support now that she was ‘out of the system’. There had been some help to get her first place, and to help her find a job, but she was struggling now. Even more so after the crash, she’d missed nearly a week of work, and the small savings she had managed to amount had mostly gone on rent and bills when she’d got out of the hospital. She was glad that the subject was changed, she really didn’t want to reveal the financial situation she was in to her friends, afraid that they might judge her for it, or worse, offer charity. Joking about Mason’s muscles though, that was something she could get in on. She put on the most unconvinced looking face she could conjure up. “Hmmmmm, I don’t know, I saw you and Claire before you turned invisible, and I’m pretty sure she had bigger arms than you…” She giggled a little, suddenly girlish. “You could try arm wrestling me to see if you can prove it.”

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[Mason Warner]

Training?

“Yeah… I can tell you now that I’ve done quite a few building inspections and this warehouse – while awesome – could definitely do with some good old TLC,” Mason said. It was a kind way of saying that the entire place was suffering from some serious neglect and needed quite a bit of work to bring it up to scratch which, fortunately, was by no means at all impossible.

He smiled cheerfully, pleased that Dominic was happy to get Mason involved to such a degree. It was helping to keep his concerns that he was a complete spare part at bay for the time being. They were still there, but they weren’t quite so vocal. “Yeah, we’ll have to work out what we’re getting beforehand, or have some kinda communication method for when we’re out in public. Otherwise people are gonna think they’re hearing voices.”

Mason had been tempted to make ghostly noises in people’s ears on the bus but had so far restrained himself.

“I’ll have a look at my finances, man, but I’m sure I can contribute my fair share. Not that,” he cast a worried glance at Alice who quite obviously did not have much in the way of spare cash floating around, “It would be unfair not to contribute. After all, we’re all in this together but I’ve kinda started to think of you as the architect of this whole superhero vision – it’s definitely yours to invest in as you choose.” He hoped Dom wouldn’t think he was taking advantage of his generosity, although he’d got the impression that the guy was pretty comfortably well-off and pretty savvy with how he chose to spend his money. It was probably okay.

His pretence at muscliness had been well-received. Mason felt himself surge with pride.

“Oh you guys,” he began, their mockery bouncing off him. “You must have both hit your heads pretty hard in the crash because… I’ve always been a human tank.” He stifled a snigger.

Then Alice presented a challenge.

“I wouldn’t uh, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.” Mason stumbled over his words in retreat. “Or get turned into the remains of a shelving unit,” he admitted, grinning. “You know what, I’ll take your offer, but no blasting me across the room!”

He couldn't quite resist teasing her once more. “Winner gets a tiara?”

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