Daylight [SuperHero Novel]

[YMM]

Prologue

I was angry the day of her funeral, not angry at Mom for leaving, I was angry at the world. I smiled because she would have wanted me to, but every time I looked up, my gut clenched at the unfairness. I took a second to focus on the decorations, making sure everything was perfect. The venue was covered in yellow decorations, tulip bouquets on each table, and my mom's favourite local band was singing.

I held my sister Lexi's hand, dragging her with me as I greeted guests. Lexi was taking the loss harder than any of us; my father and I made sure she was never alone, especially not here.

"Julius! Alexandra! I've been looking everywhere for you two!" I sighed as I turned around to face Florentine Bulat, my mom's best friend, who happened to be the retired superhero "Knockout." Florentine was a short Persian woman, dressed as if a rainbow blew up on her, as per my mom's requirements for anyone who wanted to attend. I loved Florentine, everyone did, but she also had a reputation for being a bit… much, even for me.

"Lovely decorations you and your father put together, the flower arrangements are to die for." The conversation around us died out as everyone turned to look at Florentine, Lexi's hand gripping painfully as she death-glared the five-one wrecking ball. The look of shock on everyone's faces finally broke me as I started laughing. Florentine grinned victoriously. "See! Julius gets it; the rest of you need to lighten up, you all know she's laughing."

"It's good to see you, Aunt Flora," I said as I reached in for a hug. "Thank you for coming."

"I would have come even if you had a sign on the door that said 'No Aunt Flora's allowed," she scoffed. "Jokes aside, you two really outdid yourselves, the flowers, the food, the decorations, even the smells, all her favourite things, I'm sure she absolutely loves it. Shame it had to rain, ruined the skylight you two bought the venue for." My teeth clenched at the reminder, of course, today of all days it had to-

"Stop acting like she's still here," Lexi spoke up. "She's gone, acting like she's right beside us, won't suddenly make everything okay." Lexi glared at Florentine, her eyes glossing over before she spun and walked off.

"Sorry, everyone, angsty teen in action, excuse us for a moment." I gave Florentine an apologetic look before chasing after Lexi. I dragged her to one of the backrooms before guiding her to sit down.

Lexi slumped onto the couch like her back had given out. I sat beside her, letting the silence stretch. The room was small, barely more than a storage space — a desk, two chairs, and the thin couch we were on. The quietness was nice, but it made the sound of the pounding rain all too clear.

"We don't have to go back out there, you know?" I said softly. "If you want to just… breathe for a minute, we can do that."

Lexi nodded, her chin trembling for exactly one second before she forced it still. She leaned against me, her head barely reaching my shoulder. I felt her take a shaky breath, the kind people take right before crying or screaming.

"You're not funny, you know," she muttered eventually, her voice hoarse. Then she pitched it higher: "'Angsty teen in action.' Seriously?"

"Why is my voice higher than yours? That doesn't even make sense." I murmured, nudging her gently.

"Cause you're a wimp."

I let out a small laugh. Warmth flooding through my chest.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while. My mind wandered to all the times Mom sat me down like this, just giving me her company while I cried, or raged.

I heard a light knock on the door as our dad, Mark Martin, walked in, who, despite being six-one with blond hair and blue eyes, didn't see fit to pass down any of those genes to his only son.

"I heard what happened." Dad sighed as he sat on the floor across from us, or Lexi, more specifically, "She's not gone, you know?" Dad's eyes drilled into Lexi; his vivid blue eyes could be incredibly unnerving when he was focused.

"Dad no-"

"Let me finish, Lex. Your mother was the most amazing person I've ever met, and frankly, the woman was never wrong. She was more certain that we would meet again than of her own name." He paused, his shoulders straightening, "And until then, we keep her alive in our memories, in the way we celebrate her life and the way she lived." Lexi stayed quiet as my dad got up. "I'm not going to make you go back out there, but I'm sure your brother would appreciate your support for his big speech."

0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

The venue felt weird without any music; all the songs that my mom loved were about bringing joy, and without them, it was harder to pretend that everything was okay. I felt hundreds of eyes land on me. I've never had stage fright before, but I couldn't help but be nervous this time. Despite that, I felt a smile crawl onto my face seeing Lexi at the back of the crowd. She gave me a thumbs up when she saw my attention on her. Taking a deep breath, I started.

"Alayna Martin, my mother, often told me she was a mother first, and everything else second, but as much as she would protest, I have to disagree. Mom is the most amazing, beautiful person I think I will ever meet, and looking around today, at the number of people she's connected with, I can't help but think she was being modest. There are hundreds of us here, but I have no doubt she knew each of our favourite colours, how to make each of us feel better, and how to celebrate with each of us. Mom told me she didn't want today to be one of sadness…" I looked at the skylight, and the damned rain that's been pouring all day, today of all days. We made sure to pick a day with no chance of rain, and yet as soon as the morning hit, it was pouring. I felt my mind straying from the speech I memorized.

"My mom hated the rain, always said it made her sad," I said softly. Today was supposed to be one of celebration; it was supposed to be her day. Yet, by some curse, it was raining. Despite all their eyes on me, I kept looking up, through the rain, through the clouds. I looked at the sun, asking, begging it to make the rain stop.

It listened.

 

[YMM]

A beam of light enveloped me, the sun's rays forming a beacon toward the sky. I could feel it as the light consumed me, heat radiating through my body, transforming me. The light was bright enough to blind anyone who looked at it, yet I could feel the light restraining itself for my sake. The crowd faded away as I poured my entire being into pushing the clouds away, away from me, away from my mom, away from everything.

"-lius, JULIUS!" I fell to my knees as Florentine pushed her arm through the light, shaking me awake; the light vanishing as I fell.

"We need to go. Now," Florentine said, the most serious I've ever seen her. Mustering all my strength, I tried standing up, but I wobbled as the world closed in on me. The last thing I noticed was her blackened arm as I passed out.

I dreamed of the sun; I saw myself standing next to it, as if it were judging me. Barely the size of a basketball, its pulsing white flames radiated absolute supremacy. Slowly, the sun unravelled itself into countless strands, forcing its energy throughout my body, reshaping me, refining me into something more.

0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

Lexi POV

My body felt numb as I watched the news; they were talking about Julius, my brother, still unconscious, a few feet away from me.

He fucking ascended.


The footage was insane, a beacon of light punching a hole in the sky, pushing away all the clouds in sight. They haven't stopped talking about the new unknown super. He's gonna be powerful as shit too, based on the estimates they're throwing out. Aunt Flora and Dad have been running around making sure no one's gonna bother Julius about it when he wakes up.

I still can't believe he's gonna be a super, my older brother. Mom would be jumping off the rails right now; she's always loved superheroes.


0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

Groaning as I woke up, my attention was drawn to the TV a few feet away from the couch I was sitting on.

"Breaking news: a newly emerged super has been recorded manipulating what appears to be pure light to disperse the cloud cover over Metro Vancouver." Officials estimate the displacement to be equivalent to moving 5.6 billion kilograms of water, achieved in just seconds, placing our unknown super in class Titan.

"Lex has been playing that on repeat, waiting for you to wake up." My dad chuckled as he walked into the living room with a cup of coffee, his blonde hair glistening annoyingly in the sunlight…

Never mind.

"How long have I been out?" I rasped, making a gimme motion for the coffee. My eyes fixated on his unusually unshiny hair.

"About two days," Dad answered, handing me the coffee. "Florentine said that's to be expected for ascensions, though." That took a bit to set in, I realized, of course, but hearing it out loud was a reality check.

I had superpowers.

"She always called you her little sunshine, you know? One more thing she was right about." Dad smiled softly in the way he always did talking about Mom. It feels like I've seen that smile a million times in the past few months.

"Do you think Mom gave me this?" I asked, instinctively summoning small streams of light around my finger, playing with them as I looked at Dad.

"She gave birth to you, kid. Alayna gave you those powers one way or another." He said, sitting down beside me, "But I wouldn't put it past her giving you one last gift before heading to the afterlife." I sat with him for a bit, both of us watching the light in my hand, trying to figure out what I could do with it. I could tell he wanted to ask questions, to experiment, as he always did after finding something interesting. He probably didn't want us to destroy the living room either.

"She would be so proud of you, Julius. You've become a better man than either of us ever imagined." I stayed silent as he continued, "You've always been the first to offer a helping hand; there's no one more fitting than you to have these powers."

"Thank you," I whispered, leaning in to give him a hug. "This all seems surreal. No one actually thinks they're going to get superpowers." I could feel the light around us, the light inside me waiting for my command.

"I guess a secret identity is off the table?" I asked. There were hundreds of people at Mom's funeral; the chances of all of them keeping it a secret were next to zero. Not that secret identities were very common anymore, targeting a cape's civilian family put you on everyone's shit list, hero and villain alike.

"Let's save those questions until your aunt Flora gets here. She's very excited to give you the 'superhero' talk," he smirked, What the hell is a superhero talk? Knowing Aunt Flora, it's probably something with costumes. "At least you finished high school before becoming a superhero. I can't imagine trying to get you to class when you can literally fly away." My dad paused suddenly, looking at me intensely. "Can you fly?"

Can I fly?

"Mom would want us to see if I could fly as soon as possible," I nodded.

Dad nodded with me, "She would be upset if we weren't in the yard testing it out right now." I don't think I've ever seen us head towards a door faster in our lives.

Unfortunately, as soon as I got near the door, it slammed straight into my nose.

"Superhero 101! Demigod class hero Knockout here to teach you how to kick butt! And fill out insurance forms!"

"You could have broken my nose." I winced, grabbing my very slightly aching nose, which should have honestly hurt a lot more.

"First lesson!" she yelled triumphantly, "Surprise attacks!"

There was a loud pop behind me, and rainbow confetti rained all over me. I turned around to see Lexi holding the confetti popper like it was a trophy. Confetti settled all over the floor.

I'm so not cleaning that up.

I turned back around and looked closer at Florentine. She was dressed like a substitute teacher, a white button-up, a grey blazer, and huge glasses. Florentine pulled out a pointing stick as Lexi wheeled in a squeaking whiteboard. Giving her a questioning look, the fifteen-year-old shrugged, "She gave me two hundred dollars."

Florentine took that as her cue to continue. "Superhero 101 is divided into three parts! One, Superhero basics! Two, Learning your powers! Three, Training!" I smiled as she pushed her glasses up like an anime character. "Superheroes are divided into four tiers! The tier is decided at ascension!

"Everybody already knows this," Lexi deadpanned.

"Let me have this, Alexandra, please. I've had a rough couple of days." Seeing Lexi raise her hands in surrender, Florentine continued. "Anyway! Although the pure power level of a super cannot change, heroes constantly find new and creative ways to use their powers! The Class system is as follows," Florentine said, pointing to the whiteboard.

Olympians — Their presence changes the world

Frequency: 1 in 1,000,000,000

Titans — Neighbouring states feel a significant impact from their presence.

Frequency: 1 in 10,000,000

Demigods — A city's major player

Frequency: 1 in 100,000

Champions — Can accomplish the supernatural

Frequency: 1 in 5,000

"The news said Jules is a Titan?" Lexi leaned in eagerly; she was almost more excited about this than I was.

Florentine nodded in agreement, "Correct! The amount of power he displayed the other day is more than I've felt from a Demigod; that's the same feeling I get from Titans." Florentine looked straight at me, "Titans are rare, incredibly so, people care, governments especially don't want that much power going unchecked. I've bought you some time, but you'll need to decide on how closely you want to work with them. There are only three other Titans in Canada, so you have negotiating power."

I nodded as I looked at the whiteboard, the light inside me bristled, insulted at the comparison, offended at being compared at all, that the light, that the sun, was stronger.

 

[YMM]

"Next! There are rules to being a superhero!" Florentine nodded profoundly, "The most famous rule being never to target a super out of costume, or their family."

Back when ascensions first started happening, most superheroes modelled themselves on old comic book characters and hid their identities. More than one of them lost their family in attempted blackmail attempts. It was when GoldenBoy had his family killed by a villain that the rule took off. Over 10 thousand Supers showed up to kill the villain; his name was erased from the internet.

"Rule two! Avoid escalation! If a villain is aiming for incapacitation, keep it that way! If you initiate deadly force, so will they, and it's not just your life on the line." At the mention of fighting supervillains, my dad and Lexi tensed up. I can't blame them, honestly. I would be acting the same way if we were talking about either of them being in danger.

"I'll be fine," I tried smiling encouragingly. "Actual villain attacks are rare anyway; heroes are basically glorified first responders." They both calmed down a little at that. It was true, with heroism becoming so systemic, there wasn't much incentive for acsendants to fall into villainy, and those that did were often too weak to accomplish anything.

Florentine backed me up, "Statistically, the casualty rate for heroes is lower than the rate for police officers. Julius will be exceptionally safe in a guild." Seeing my Dad's shoulders relax, the exuberant woman moved on.

"The last rule! Stay out of nonpowered wars; this rule is the only one backed by the government. 'Superpowered individuals are forbidden from partaking in conflict involving a country's unpowered military.' This rule exists purely to prevent mutual destruction; It would only take a simple Olympian to destroy a nation."

The rule was reasonable, but there is no reason in war. Even if it brought the wrath of every super on the planet, I wouldn't let innocent people die. I felt the sun's power respond to my will, fierce warmth encompassing me, sharp light begging to burst free from my skin.

Ah.. I will end up breaking a rule, won't I, Mom?

0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

"Welcome to Eagle's Eye!" Florentine presented; she drove us all the way over here, refusing to tell us where we were going, except that it would 'help me master my true self.' "This was my guild back when I was active," she continued, "Eagle's Eye works directly with the RCMP; they have more investigative supers than the rest of the west coast combined. The guildmaster also owed me a favour and is letting Julius use the training room," She smiled cheekily.

"Aunt Flora, you're amazing," I laughed, training rooms at big guilds like these were always built by tinkers, meaning I didn't need to worry about injuring anyone while I tested my powers.

"If you can't do anything cool, im gonna be so disappointed."

"And what's your super power, Lexi?" I asked her back.

"Not being a twink."

I smiled as she walked in front of us. It's been a while since she joked like that. I'd much rather her tease me than mourn.

We got inside quickly. The rest of my family was more excited about this than I was. We pretty much forced our way past reception and into the training room. My family was taken into a room beside us, with tinker-reinforced glass separating us. Florentine and I stood in a room that seemed entirely made of foam when another person walked in.

"Julius, this is my friend Rue. His power lets him experience time differently, which makes him amazing at noticing details in new ascendants' powers." The hero in question was in a full hero costume, with a mask that covered the bottom half of his face, blue and grey tactical armour, and black cargo pants.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you! Thank you for helping me with this." I smiled, extending my hand. Rue gave me a slight nod, shook my hand, then turned invisible.

"He's always like that, don't worry," Florentine said. "Now then! I don't think you've actually explained what your power is yet."

I hesitated, unsure how to explain.

"I am the sun."

My face flushed as Lexi's voice rang on the intercom

"Poke him."

And now Florentine's poking me.

"He doesn't feel like the sun," Florentine confidently stated towards the glass.

"That's not how it works," I sighed.

"Just throw a fireball, Jules."

And now Dad is on the intercom.

Deciding to give them what they want, I turned towards the target dummies, feeling the heat in my chest. I thought of the sun's flames. Roaring heat that can take life just as easily as it gives it, no need to go overboard, just a cool orange flame.

A ball of orange fire erupted in my hand, only warm to the touch, and with a thought, it was sent flying towards the target. The ball went straight through its chest and landed in a hard-light baseball glove I conjured behind it.

Dispersing the glove and fire, I wrapped myself in a layer of invisible, hard light and lifted off the ground, facing the glass. Light enveloped my back, making it look like I was floating in front of the sunrise.

"Let's te-"

I jumped away from Rue. I had completely forgotten about him; that scare had to be on purpose. My family turned on the intercom so that I could hear them laughing at me.

"You almost looked cool for a second," Lexi heaved between laughs.

"As I was saying," Rue interrupted, "We need to test the strength of your light constructs. The constructs materialize much faster than your fire, and have much more utility; you need to know how much stress they can endure." The bastard then handed Florentine a hammer larger than she was!

"Make sure to block Julius!" Florentine yelled as she swung at me.

0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

"Huh," Florentine said, her hammer making no progress on my shield.

"We don't have anything, or anyone here that can hit harder than KnockOut," Rue explained. "Your light is exceptionally strong."

I smiled proudly, "Thank you, Ru.e."

"Although it is possible KnockOut has gotten weaker," Rue added. Florentine laughed before punching Rue in the face.

That had to have hurt.

 

[YMM]

"Julius! Can you pick up Lex from school?" Dad called from downstairs. I needed a distraction. I was stuck, staring at costume designs. None of them captured the image I wanted.

"Yeah, no problem!" I yelled back, closing my tabs and heading downstairs. Dad was already slipping into his mechanic uniform.

"I thought you had today off?" I asked.

"One of my guys called in sick," he shrugged. "Are you practicing with Aunt Flora today? Take Lex with you if you are."

I shook my head. "Nah, she gave me the day off. We haven't been making much progress. There are only so many shapes of light I can make." Our last sessions had mostly been about feeling out my limits. Eagle's Eye didn't have the equipment to push me further.

Dad nodded. "I'll send you money for takeout. Don't let Lex pick this time—she always goes for the spicy stuff."

"I won't even tell her I'm ordering anything," I promised, waving goodbye as I headed out.

"Good man," Dad called after me.

0x0x0x0x0x0x0

The drive to Lexi's school was quiet. Music filled the car as my mind wandered back to costumes and my powers. Shaking my head I focused on the familiar streets, trying to clear my mind. The car in front of me pulled over, and people on the street were pointing at the sky.

Suddenly, the radio switched signals and blared: "EMERGENCY EVACUATE, EMERGENCY EVACUATE, EMERGENCY EVACUATE.

Chills went down my spine as a booming voice spread through the air, my eyes searching for the source.

"Light super, get up here, or I'll crush the city, we both know I can do it."

Herald, the cruellest Olympian. Why the fuck was one of the seven Olympians here? Especially the fucking graviton himself?

"You have three seconds."

My heart stopped. Instinctively, I melted through the roof of my car and almost instantly appeared next to the monster.

"Why are you here?" I trembled, "You've been inactive for decades." Herald ignored me and flew up higher, looking down on me."

"You're stronger than I thought you would be," Herald smiled, like he'd been waiting centuries for this. "The Nulifier has died. The other three 'heroic' blessed are pathetic cowards. I figured it was about time for me to have some fun."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "You're insane,"

I could hear the panic in my voice; my hands were shaking at the thought of the Nullifier's death. He was the main deterrent for high-tier villains. Mantle, Wave, and Thunderess could fight, but the Nulifier prevented casualties; he didn't allow a fight to exist.

"One of us will die today. The victor will decide the history of the loser." His eyes gleamed in sick satisfaction. "Show me a good fight, and I may allow your records to maintain honour."

I didn't have any time to react before all my organs were crushed, and pain exploded through me as I tried to scream, but the lack of lungs made sure no sound came out.

"How I've missed this!" Herald guffawed, grabbing my head in one hand. "The skin and bones of us blessed are durable; our hearts? Not so much." Herald explained as he punched me in my deflated stomach.

I could barely make out what he was saying. The pain of having my insides mushed into a ball was overwhelming. My entire torso was almost empty, aside from a dense ball of carbon that used to be my organs. I could feel the light inside me desperately trying to regenerate me, but I think Herald might kill me before that happens.

"I'll give you thirty seconds to heal before I treat myself to your city." Herald sneered as he continued punching me, my body dangling as he gripped my head. I could feel myself becoming increasingly conscious as I regenerated. As more organs grew, I reinforced them with a layer of hardlight. I desperately hoped it was enough to keep them safe.

Once I was fully healed, I created a light spear behind Herald and sent it flying towards his back. The Olympian grinned and kicked me away. Reaching out, Herald distorted the path of my construct. The spear barely scratched his arm, not even deep enough to draw blood.

"I suppose that counts for something. You scratched me," Herald snarked. I felt pressure on the light protection around my brain; it stopped as soon as it met enough resistance. The giant man shrugged. "If you died to the same trick I had just used, you deserve death." I watched warily as Herald lifted his arms up. Hundreds of cars raced into the air to meet us, each one carrying people inside.

"Leave them alone," I snarled. "If you touch them, I'll kill you." Fear ate away at me as Herald pulled more and more cars into the air. I sent my light to each one. I was desperately trying to save them.

"Your lack of conviction is what killed these people," He closed his fist, crushing hundreds of cars into small balls.

I grinned in relief as the steel gave out around the people like wet paper, my golden light protecting them. "Finally did something I didn't hand you," the gravitator laughed, sending the thousand-pound steel balls racing towards the ground. "I hope you keep me entertained, for your sake."

I ignored the hundreds of cars falling to the ground, trusting the other heroes to deal with them. I don't know what Herald would do if I left him alone.

Slowly moving the civilians towards the ground, I created thousands of spears, each dashing towards him with a sonic boom.

"Are you hoping to scratch me to death?" Herald ridiculed, "Any other blessed would have gone for a fatal blow by now; you're weak." I didn't answer him. I blitzed forward, light tearing the air behind me as I mixed myself in with my spears.

I pictured the sun's core, dense, furious; reality itself bends in its presence. A sphere of fire ignited in my palm. The atmosphere screamed as it formed, heat rippling through the sky.

I slammed it into Herald's face.