Prologue

A few months ago, I was just like you: ordinary, unremarkable, just a regular guy trying to live life the best that I could. But in the blink of an eye, all of that changed.

An explosion vaporized six blocks of Empire City. Thousands of people lost their lives. I was almost one of them. Almost. I woke up in a crater with third degree burns all over my body, forcing myself out and through the city. For four days, I laid in a hospital bed, clinging to life with my bare fingertips. When I finally recovered, I was... different.

Empire City was placed under quarantine in order to contain a plague that struck shortly after the Blast. It didn't work. All it did was cage the animals that the government didn't want to mess with. It was all up to me to sort things out. Find out how and why I got these powers.

Eventually, I got my answers to both.

I met a plethora of people, some good, some bad. Only one could be described as a bit of both: Kessler. I hated the man as soon as I laid eyes on him. Then he laid his hands on me, showing me visions of what I thought were the future, but turned out to be his past. MY past.

Kessler was me, from an alternate timeline. A time when a Beast ravaged the earth, killing everyone in its path. Kessler failed to stop it, failed to act, and lost everything that mattered to him. So he came back. Back to my time, to find me and turn me into the thing he couldn't be: the one to bring down the Beast.

To accomplish this, he committed monstrosities. He set up the Blast. He arranged the quarantine, the gang wars. He turned my best friend against me. And he killed the woman I loved.

And yet, even after all that, it wasn't enough. When the Beast did arrive, I met it head-on. I fought it with every ounce of strength I had. But it shrugged off my attacks like they were pinpricks. It destroyed Empire City while I was forced to flee to New Marais.

While in the city, I did everything I could to prepare for my second round with the Beast. I made new friends, I fought new enemies, and I did everything I could to advance my powers. When the Beast finally arrived in New Marais, I doubled my efforts, hoping to stop it before its rampage got any worse.

But things are never as easy as they seem. The Beast is actually a friend of mine from Empire City. He's doing something about the plague, curing Conduits with his powers, but killing any nearby who wasn't a Conduit. He wants me to help him. To usher in a new era of civilization, and save as many as possible to see it.

I know John thinks he's doing this for the greater good, but sooner or later, his "plan" is going to lead to the destruction of all life on the planet. I only have one Blast Core left to absorb. Then I can activate the RFI and end this, once and for all.

—

New Marais, Louisiana

June 25, 2011

11:30 PM

Cole felt the breeze hit his face as he once again saw the city skyline gradually rise to meet him. The familiar sensation of gliding through the aired never ceased to put him at ease, something he desperately needed. Especially after the battle he had with the Vermaak 88. The Ice Soldiers threw everything they had at him to defend that final Blast Core. Cole hadn't had that much of a challenge since Moya's forces invaded Empire City.

Arriving to his destination, he extended his arm and flicked his hand at a nearby rooftop, releasing a tether of electromagnetic energy which latched to the surface, pulling himself towards it. As he approached the structure, he activated his Static Thrusters for a split second. Giving himself a small boost as he flipped over and onto the roof, landing with a roll right next to an old, familiar tattered couch with an even more familiar smell.

"Hey, hey, there he is", the man on the couch spoke between sips of expired gas works beer.

Zeke Dunbar. Cole's best friend since childhood. Dropped out of college and ran away to Empire City together. They thought they were such hot shit, fighting the man, pissing off their parents, standard counter-culture know how. But as they approached the..."ripe" ages of 27 and 28, still working as bike messengers and city repairmen, quitting school with only two credits short of graduation didn't seem so cool anymore.

But through all of it, Zeke still stuck by him. Through the rent problems, family troubles, and underpaying jobs. Through the Blast, the superpowered gangs and psychopaths, the military painting targets on their backs, even the Beast. Zeke stuck by him, he always had his back. And when he made a mistake, he bent over backwards and took a shot at a walking WMD to make up for it. Zeke was his friend. His brother. And he wouldn't rather have anyone else by his side.

Taking his usual seat next to Zeke, he let a deep sigh of both relief and nervousness. The moment he fought so hard for, through Sasha and Alden, David and Moya, Bertrand...had finally arrived. But as he tried to set himself at ease, a thought crawled in the back of his mind. The fact that everything he had been through so far, would be nothing compared to what lied ahead of him.

He silently contemplated for a few moments, then turned his head over to his companion.

"You think I'm ready for this?"

For a second, there was no response. Then Zeke gave a light chuckle to himself followed by a small nod, as if he expected him to ask that question. A moment later, he opened his mouth to deliver his so-called "Dunbar Wisdom".

"The way I see it there's basically two types of people. Most of them are guys like me," he said motioning to himself, emphasizing his point, "guys who sit on the couch. We may not like the shit that happens to us...but we deal with it."

While he continued to speak, Cole leaned himself forward, which prompted Zeke to follow him and place a reassuring hand on his burdened friend's shoulder.

"Then there're guys like you."

Cole turned back to him. The two stared at each other knowingly, and nodded. Cole then reached into his pack and pulled out the glowing, purple core humming with energy that they became all too accustomed to. He felt it vibrate through his hands and swallowed the saliva nervously filling his throat. He looked back at Zeke, holding the core up high.

"End of the road."

As he gave yet another small chuckle, Zeke reached back for his beer, holding it up to the core.

"Cheers, brother. Half as long..."

"Twice as bright."

Clinking their respective items together, Zeke took a swig of bitter alcohol while Cole got up from the couch and walked over to a clearing on the roof, giving himself enough space to operate as he activated the core. Cole took another nervous breath of air, turning back to Zeke, who nodded in response.

Cole could only give a half-smile as he turned back around, and finally delivered a billion volts of energy into the irradiated rock, vaporizing the outer shell and releasing it's energy directly into Cole's body.

He let out the usual grunts and small cries of pain and exertion, which Zeke paid no mind to. They had done this six times before, after all. But as a strange blue aura surrounded Cole, Zeke lowered his glasses and raised an eyebrow, growing increasingly more worried. Even more strange, he thought the energy looked somewhat familiar.

"Cole? You okay, brother?"

There was no response. But as the energy became more intense, and brighter to the point of obscuring his vision, it appeared to be growing unstable. That was when Zeke remembered why it felt so familiar. When the Beast created that vortex, which promptly exploded and sent them flying across Flood Town.

"Cole?! Cole! Brother, are you alright?!"

Zeke frantically hopped over the couch and towards Cole, reached his hand out to try and grab something, anything, in an attempt to pull him back. But his hand touched nothing. And as the energy finally collapsed on itself and disappeared, so did Cole. Leaving Zeke alone on the roof. Confused, and feeling as if he would have a panic attack. Standing on the edge of the roof, Zeke stared out into city, letting out a desperate cry that rang throughout the concrete alleys.

"COOOOOLE!"

—

His thoughts immediately went to Empire City.

The pain and shock, the fear and uncertainty...it was all too familiar.

He slowly started to open his eyes. He was sore all over. A thought then struck his mind.

"Zeke!" He cried, as he sat straight up. He looked around, confused. He wasn't in New Marais. He was in some dingy alley. Hell, it looked like he was back in Empire.

"What the hell..." he muttered to himself. He slowly, painfully made his way to his feet, feeling weak. What happened? One minute he felt the usual tingling of his nerves that came with injecting himself with a shitload of radioactive energy inside himself, then the next a vortex surrounded him and pulled him what felt like through a solid wall.

"Ugh..."

His muscles screaming at him. He tried walking towards the end of the alley, but needed the support of the stone wall next to him to move. He tried to avoid the garbage on the ground and against the wall, but he accidentally knocked over a garbage can. He jumped when a cat ran away as a result.

He laughed a bit at himself. "Damn cat."

He looked around, to see skyscrapers kissing the sky, dirt and grime around the streets, and a dark and Gothic tone around the area. Cole could feel the danger.

"Just like home."

This wasn't Empire City, was it? Was there a chance that he went back in time? After all the crap that happened with Kessler, it wasn't out of the question. Cole needed to find out where he was.

"Hey buddy..."

A lone voice behind him called. Cole turned to see a man, wearing a red stocking cap, a black jacket, and cargo pants. He had his hands in his pockets. Cole didn't get a good feeling from this guy.

"Hey."

Cole rasped out. The man just smiled.

"You look lost."

Cole nodded. "I guess you can say that."

The man then pulled out a knife, and pointed it at Cole.

"OK, just give me your money!"

Cole raised an eyebrow.

"Are you mugging me?"

He asked, a bit surprised. The man widened his eyes in anger.

"Course I'm mugging you! What the hell do you think this is?!" He exclaimed, moving the knife to emphasize his point.

Cole just stared. Does this guy have any idea who he was? His name floated around on national news stations as a "terrorist". He wasn't exactly unknown.

"Look pal, I don't know what you're playing at, but walk away. No one gets hurt."

The man looked baffled.

"You ain't getting rid of me like that!" He cried, as he moved to stab Cole.

Cole winced slightly as the weapon penetrated his side, before the thousands of volts of electricity coursing through his veins conducted through the knife and electrocuted his attacker. The shock sent the man back a bit, knocking him out.

Cole sighed, and sensed something electric on the man. He walked up to him, sure enough he was out cold. He looked down at his where his stab wound would've been, which healed itself almost as soon the blade was pulled out.

He searched the thug's jacket to find a fully charged cell phone. He quickly drained it, feeling his strength slowly coming back.

"Ah...the sweet taste of Verizon," He sighed and dropped the phone, taking off his messenger bag, only to be shocked when he realized that he didn't have his Amp. He looked around, only to see that it wasn't where he woke up. He groaned. He really liked that thing, and it's going to take Zeke forever to make another one. Assuming he'd ever see him again.

No, don't think like that. John is still out there planning to wipe out the human race unnecessarily. He needed to get back and stop him. He would. He just needed to figure out how.

Cole opened his bag, and pulled out his old yellow and black courier jacket, which he felt would be better suited for his current environment. He quickly put it on, before slinging the bag back over his shoulder.

He made his way out of the alley, and looked around, wondering where to go. He made a mental note of the building with the giant "W" on it, with the word "enterprises" underlining it. Obviously some kind of business conglomerate.

He then found a newspaper stand. He quickly made his way towards it, reading the headline of today's paper.

It was called the Gotham Gazette. Some rich boy by the name of Bruce Wayne was opening a hospital. The date was June 25th, 2011.

The date was right, but rest caused all kinds of questions to swirl about the Conduit's mind. Where the hell is Gotham? Who the hell is Bruce Wayne? He clearly didn't time travel. So what happened?

Cole wanted to scream, but he worried that the people walking around might think he's a freak. Then again, when was the last time someone looked at him like a normal person? He needed to find a genius. Someone who could explain what's happening. You know, assuming that Cole hasn't gone crazy. Fighting supervillains, giant monsters, swamp mutants, fifty foot maggots, superpowered mercenaries, and a walking apocalypse would make anyone nuts.

Cole's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of police sirens. He turned around to see several cop cars pass by, all with "GCPD" on the side. They all drove like maniacs. Looks like something big was happening.

The Electric Man contemplated for a moment. Whatever the cops were after, it was serious. Cole doubted they could handle it themselves. But if he helped, he'd give himself away. He wasn't sure whether he wanted people to know about him.

Actually, if Cole revealed himself, he could get someone to help him. Hopefully someone trustworthy.

Without a second thought, Cole followed the sirens. Besides, it'll feel nice to fry some a couple assholes to vent some frustration.

To Be Continued...