Chapter 2 With Great Power Comes Great...Pain
1042 Words
BANG BANG BANG.
The knocking hit like a gunshot.
Jace jolted upright, heart racing, blanket tangled around his legs. He blinked at the glowing numbers on his digital clock.
5:32 a.m.
> “Jace. Get up.”
His father’s voice, calm and firm.
“Time to train.”
Jace groaned. “Train what? For what?”
But his father was already gone.
---
He shuffled into the garage, rubbing his eyes—and stopped cold.
Everything had changed.
The old car, tool racks, dusty shelves—gone. Or moved aside. The space had been stripped and remade.
Now it was clean, cold, and glowing. A sleek black platform stood in the center of the room, and resting on it was a large, open case. Inside:
A suit.
Dark gray and tactical. Lined with faint glowing stripes down the arms and legs. Reinforced boots, gloves with metallic knuckles, and a folded cloak designed to snap into the shoulders.
Jace just stared.
> “I made it for you,” his dad said, stepping in from the shadows. “Modified one of my older ones.”
> “You made this for me?” Jace asked.
His father nodded. “What you did yesterday—that wasn’t a fluke. Your body’s reacting to something. We need to sharpen it.”
> “So it’s... powers?”
“Something like that. Subtle, for now. Reflexes. Instincts. Balance. Nothing dramatic. But with the right gear? You’ll be dangerous.”
Jace smiled. For the first time in a long time, he felt something new.
Purpose.
---
The training chamber was underground.
A secret wall opened at the back of the garage, revealing a narrow staircase that led deep beneath the house. Jace followed his father down into what looked like a massive bunker, lined with lights, equipment, and reinforced walls.
There were obstacles—bars, platforms, walls to climb and vault over. Like a military-style gym hidden under the suburbs.
> “Start by running the course. No holding back.”
And so he did.
Jace ran. Jumped. Slid. Fell. Got up again.
He wasn’t perfect—he tripped twice and slammed into a wall once—but his body moved better than ever. When he let go and just reacted, it felt natural. Like he’d been doing this his whole life.
> “Not bad,” his father said. “You’re fast. You land light. You recover quick. That’s what matters.”
Jace grinned. “So... I can’t fly or punch through walls, but I bounce like a cat.”
> “Exactly,” his father said. “Stealth. Speed. Precision. You’ll never be the strongest. But you don’t have to be.”
---
Later, they sat on a bench in the corner of the chamber. Jace wiped the sweat off his face and looked over at the suit folded beside him.
> “So... gadgets?” he asked. “Since I’m not superman, maybe I should build some tricks.”
His father raised an eyebrow. “What kind of tricks?”
Jace’s grin widened. “Give me ten minutes.”
---
Fifteen minutes later, in the workshop upstairs, Jace held up his first creation:
A small, circular disc with two prongs and a glowing blue core.
> “Shock disc,” he said. “Low-power pulse. Non-lethal. Should disrupt muscles for a second or two.”
His father examined it. “Self-made?”
“Printed the shell. Gutted one of Eli’s old taser toys for the core.”
> “Nice work.”
---
That night, Jace suited up for the first time.
The suit was snug, but not tight. Sleek. Light. Like second skin.
He stood in front of the mirror, heart racing. Hood up. Gloves on.
He didn’t look like himself.
He looked like someone else. Someone stronger. Someone who didn’t flinch when the world turned against him.
His father stepped into the doorway.
> “Time to test it.”
---
They moved through Nova Reach’s edge district—The Blocks.
Old industrial buildings. Cracked streets. Faint blue glow from above.
His father watched from the rooftops while Jace patrolled the streets alone.
Nervous. Focused. Alert.
That’s when he saw it.
A man in a hoodie sprinting from a corner store—bag in hand. Behind him, the shattered glass of a display window and a shouting clerk.
“Stop!” the clerk yelled.
The thief ran into an alley.
Jace moved.
He gave chase, heart hammering. The suit responded to every movement like a dream—his boots barely made a sound on the pavement.
The thief looked back—then tripped.
Jace reached into his belt and threw the shock disc.
It missed.
Slammed into a trash can and discharged with a loud BZZZT.
> Crap.
The thief scrambled to his feet and lunged forward—right into Jace.
They both fell. The man punched wildly, and Jace took a hit to the jaw. Pain flared. The mask absorbed most of it, but it still rattled him.
He rolled, locked his legs around the man’s arm, and twisted.
The man cursed, tried to stand—but Jace kicked his leg out and tackled him against the wall.
He slapped the second disc onto the guy’s back.
ZAP.
The thief twitched and dropped like a stone.
Breathing hard, Jace stood over him.
Shaking. Adrenaline flooding every inch of him.
---
Minutes later, he returned to the rooftop.
His father was already waiting, arms crossed.
> “Messy,” he said.
> “Yeah,” Jace admitted. “I panicked.”
> “But you didn’t quit.”
Jace looked down at the city lights.
> “I think I like it,” he said. “Helping people. Even if I suck at it right now.”
His father’s voice softened.
> “You’ll get better.”
They stood there a moment longer, side by side, watching Nova Reach breathe beneath them.
---
That night, Jace lay in bed, bruised but wide awake.
His jaw still hurt. His knee was scraped. His disc programming was off.
But the feeling in his chest—that fire—was real.
> This is what I was meant to do.
And tomorrow?
He’d try again.
- Writer
