New Heroes Extras #1: Of Electricity and Worry
A Flashback scene from Andre's childhood from the POV of his parents.
The New Heroes is a series of YA Superhero Fantasy books set in an alternate 2014 Philippines where Superhumans exist and Superheroes inspire the next generation. It also has romance! Heart and Hero is the first book and is available now!
Author’s Note: This was something I posted on my blog for a Midnight Tide Publishing scavenger hunt in early 2022. I took it down after the event, but I'm sharing it here as the first of (hopefully) many New Heroes shorts, scenes, and exclusive content.
I present to you a short FLASHBACK scene I've written years ago for the New Hero Series lore.
One of the things I enjoy about this series is how far back my world-building was. I have files and files of little character stories and info that never made it to the book or may still make it somewhere else. Details may also be subject to change in the final canon of the series. For this short scene, I emphasized a glimpse into Andre as a child and his parents’ point of view.
It's better if you've read HEART AND HERO to understand more of what's going on, but this can be read without fear of spoilers.
Electricity and Worry
Norman Abrera rushed to the Organization sector cradling his weak and paling 5-year-old son, Andre. His wife, Agatha, stalked behind him, eyes teary. An almost foreign worry spread across her usually composed face. The gravel beneath their feet crunched as they made their way through the parking lot toward the magically concealed building.
“Norman!” Agatha said, panic in her voice.
Norman felt a few more electric sparks coming from his son’s tightly closed fists. It didn’t do anything to him apart from a slight buzzing feeling in his chest as he can absorb and direct human energy, but the energy coming from Andre was different. It was somehow calm before the storm. Something was building up. It came in closer consecutive waves now which was a quick change from when they spotted him curled up at the side of his bed. Somehow, intuition told him he wouldn’t be able to keep hold of his son much longer.
A stout woman with a bob cut stood in alarm behind the lobby’s desk as the couple broke into the double door.
“Get Albert and Stephan!” Norman ordered, his usual friendly disposition missing from the urgency.
The woman took one look at the child in Norman’s arms, knowing at once something was wrong. She nodded briskly and made a grab for the local line phone.
“I’m taking him upstairs to the Technopaths,” Norman told his wife, already halfway through the lobby, ignoring the stares of people waiting there.
“Technopaths?” his wife asked bewildered, clutching at her chest. Torn from panic and anger at not being able to hold her baby as Norman warned her it was dangerous to both her and Andre. "Why upstairs? What about your father? He said he’d wait at the Medwing…N-Norman, I want to know what’s going on! Why Technopaths?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he looked serious as he jogged up the stairs, not bothering to hold anything but the pudgy boy in his arms. “Stephan and I have been talking about something and I think maybe he has something…”
“Elevator! Norman!”
“I’m afraid he’ll start absorbing the electricity used there,” Norman called back.
Andre stirred a bit and mumbled. “Mommy…”
“Andre, I’m right here, anak,” Agatha said once she’d caught up with Norman’s pace. “Daddy’s taking you to a clinic.”
Andre’s eyes were barely open as he looked confused. His lips were the clearest indication of him being unwell.
Norman backed them into the glass doors of the Technopath Lab and was immediately greeted by a man in a lab coat, brown thick-framed glasses, wispy-looking hair, and a goatee.
“Something’s happened,” was all Norman said.
Not a second longer, the man looked for a stretcher and Norman placed Andre down. They hauled the boy over to the operating room.
“His aura is weak too,” Agatha said, hovering her hand over her son, fingers straight. Her voice was firm, fighting back a shudder and trying to keep it together. “It’s usually a bright blue, but it’s dull.” There was something ruining the balance inside of him.
“Well, that’s…” The man glanced at Andre as more sparks flickered in and out of his body like his own electricity powers were creating a small cage for him. “New.”
He quickly went through a table of set items, pulling on thick black rubber gloves and slipping goggles over his forehead.
“I tried to absorb some of the energy but he keeps unconsciously absorbing stuff from…I don’t know what, Stephan. I wouldn’t let him near anything electrical, I wouldn’t run the risk-”
Agatha had her eyebrows knotted and her fists balled, cheeks streaming with tears.
“I can’t hold my son! What’s happening to him?!” she demanded Stephan.
Stephan usually ran the database of the superhumans in the org and was a researcher and scientist, specializing in superhuman genetics. He was also a part-time teacher of Superhuman Studies at New Hero University so he’d know a lot about powers and gifts.
Norman took his wife and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to calm her down, not letting his eyes off Andre.
Stephan typed furiously at a computer next to the bed and immediately a holographic dome covered Andre as if he was in a semi-bubble. Such technology might excite a lot of people outside the community, but for the Technopaths and other gadget-inclined Superhumans, it was simply like messing with building blocks.
The computer lit up with waves and beeps as little strips of very visible bluish electrical charges crept about the boy’s arms and legs. The same color his mother was seeing in his Aura.
“His body couldn’t take the amount of electricity…he couldn’t control his powers so he’s more or less absorbing any electricity against his will. Maybe even energy,” Stephan said as a human-shaped graphic emerged on the screen, blinking on and off with a red warning color that made Agatha tense. “Worst case scenario, he might eventually unconsciously take out people.”
“He wouldn’t,” Norman said firmly.
“I mean, it’s what we’re here for. I can stop it. Just give it a minute.”
Stephan sat on a swivel chair and moved closer to the monitor.
Andre stirred again, tossed, and then turned. His eyebrows twitched and his lips curved in a trembling frown.
The doors to the lab opened and a tall young man with thick curly hair and sunkissed skin walked in, followed by a proper-looking 40-something woman in a wooden brown pencil skirt and blazer.
“What happened?” the new man asked, he was still in his training gear but was otherwise an easier one to contact because he was already in the sector.
The woman, the couple was surprised to notice, was the new President of the Superhuman College. They’ve met on a few occasions. She placed a strong, reassuring hand on Agatha’s shoulder.
“Andre’s experiencing some kind of power overcharge. The effect overwhelmed him.” Stephan explained typing in a few more things. “I’m going to activate a neutralizer on the dome to stabilize him so he’ll stop channeling the charges.”
“Do it,” Norman said, nodding. “Maybe once it stabilizes I could take some excess energy out of him. I’ve done it before and it seemed to work to calm him down.”
Stephan shook his head, lips in a tight line, and brows creased. He and Norman exchanged a look. “Mmm-mmm. You can’t. Readings indicate the energy he’s taken in is something you can’t already handle-”
Norman scowled. “I was afraid of that. That’s why I asked for Al as well.” He gestured to the man who was serious even as he was standing between them in nothing but black tights and protective padding. He crossed his arms.
“I see,” Al said, his voice deep.
“What do you mean?” Agatha said, irritable.
“I mean,” Stephan said, swiveling his chair to face them. “Norman can’t absorb this kind of energy. It’s purely electrical and he only specializes in human energy. It’s a power surge, honestly, something I’ve never seen in the Organization for years.”
He sounded serious but at the same time somehow astounded. They all turned to the boy as they heard the hologram hum to life, emitting a bright light for a moment as the neutralizer was being implemented.
“Maybe in Lupagos. They do have those Lightning folks,” Stephan added, scratching his goatee as if it made him more distinguished with his claims. “I’ve already mentioned to Pareng Norman that I don’t think your boy is just our average Manipulator. I think his powers are more Physical than it is something he could control. It’s tied to his body, you know. The electricity.”
“Okay, so we’ll register him in the Physical Pillar. But how does this information help my son from passing out again?”
“Well, I’ve already considered something when Norman told me about it a couple of weeks ago. Call it a work-in-progress solution.”
As soon as the machine finished Andre seemed to have relaxed and started breathing steadily. Agatha sighed in relief while Norman turned to Albert. Albert was an ingenious young man and new blood in terms of working as a costumed hero in the Front Organization even at his ripe young age. He had connections and knew enough when it came to both the Superhuman world as well as the world of the Engkantos.
“Only person I know who can handle heaps of power like that is Andrew,” Albert said in a low voice. “Maybe he can help redirect it.”
“Andrew Nuñez?” the woman beside Agatha asked. “The Light?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Kapitan Araw.” Stephan nodded with his lower lip jutting in amusement as if they all didn’t know.
“He’s back home in Laguna right now but I’ll call him right up. I’ve seen him do it before with light posts and glowing orbs from the Other World.” Al leaned against the wall. “As for the folks from Lupagos you mentioned, I actually don’t know anybody who could contact them. They’re nomads and they often don’t gravitate towards Erterya.”
Stephan shrugged as if to say it was worth a shot.
“Meanwhile, pare, I think I know how we can keep his powers neutralized without the dome. I’ll have Dino and his team work on something,” Stephan said, sliding his hands together as if already concocting his plan.
“Thank you,” Norman said.
“What about a Power Inhibitor amulet from the Magic Department?” Agatha suggested, but even as she said it she wasn’t so sure. Magic Inhibitors could only work for a little while and they were often just used to notify the Organization when powers are being abused. The Magic-User heads wouldn’t allow such powerful talismans to just any child unless he was really dangerous and that was the last thing Agatha and Norman would want the Organization to think of their child.
“Hm, I think tech is a more long-lasting solution than a spell.” Stephan shrugged.
Agatha clearly considered arguing but the hologram faded and a sharp ping sound followed by more murmuring from machines came. Stephan tacked away at the keyboard before swiveling his chair dramatically backward.
“He’s stabilized. Miss Agatha, he’s safe to touch.”
Agatha didn’t waste a second to breathe and hugged her son. His breathing was back to normal and the color was starting to get back to his face, but she could tell his aura was still down. She kissed his cheek. “Oh, Andre.”
The boy’s eyes fluttered. “Mommy…” he said, his voice small. “I’m sorry. The brownout was my fault.”
“No, no. It’s not your fault,” she said.
“Where am I? Dad, am I sick?”
“You’re going to be okay, baby,” Agatha kissed him again, shielding him as if she could protect him from what is to come. “Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”