Untold Legends of Lightstreak part 1
by Lightstreak

The rain came down in drops as thick as kidney beans and the thunder rolled across the sky with a fury that rivaled even the primal scream of God himself. Jason gazed up at the sky and physically kicked himself for not bringing an umbrella. "So I die on stage and die of pneumonia on my way home," he muttered, "terrific."

He held his denim jacket close to his body and began walking home from the club where he worked as a struggling comic. He wasn't stupid, he had a day job in the sales department of a multi-national corporation, but what he really wanted was to make a name for himself. He had his moments, but nothing seemed to really knock his audience dead.

Something moved above him. He looked up and in a flash of lightning saw a bizarre, red costumed character leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Jason lived in Patriot City since he was ten years old, and immediately recognized The Ant, one of the city's more popular heroes. All that fame and glamour and the man never showed his face to anyone. "Probably afraid Nuclear Winter would squash him like a bug," he said, repeating the joke that didn't get a single laugh onstage, except from that nervous guy in the front row with the cute red head as his date.

Jason climbed the steps to his comfortable upper-middle class apartment building and rode the elevator to his floor. At least he had his wife to cheer him up when his act didn't go so well. He shook off most of the rain in the elevator as the doors opened and slid his key into the door, anxious to just sit back, open a can of soda, and relax for the rest of the evening.

Natalie stepped from the baby's bedroom, looking frazzled but still stunning. She smiled that angelic, yet impish smile that made Jason's knees buckle. He paused a moment to look at her. A stunning blonde standing six feet tall with nice long legs, just the way Jason liked it. Her blue eyes sparkled as she strode toward him, that gymnastic grace not leaving her even after four years.

"Hey babe," she said, still smiling and almost giggling as she spoke, "how was the club?"

Jason sighed. "Not great," he admitted, "my new material didn't go over so well."

Natalie pouted playfully, but with genuine sympathy. "Don't worry, Jason, you'll get your name recognized some day." She always knew just what to say to cheer him up. He smiled at her and asked her about her day. "Oh, what a night!" she laughed, "your son just would not go to bed!"

Jason laughed; Ryan took up after him in many ways, in particular never giving up without a fight. "Whoever called it the terrible twos was making the understatement of the year." Natalie laughed and Jason followed suit. "Well," he said, "the little monster's in bed now so you can relax."

"Maybe," Natalie replied, her voice dropping to a low purr as she lead him by the hand to the bedroom, "or we can work out our tension together". Jason never stopped smiling that night.

The phone rang on and on, seeming to take an impatient life of its own when Jason finally finished his business email and answered, cursing his secretary for taking so long on her lunch break.

"Omnicorp sales division," he began, cheerfully, "Jason Clark speaking."

"Hi, are you interested in an exciting new long distance plan?"

Jason moaned inwardly, another telemarketer. Normally Jason just hung up, but he decided to have some fun with this one. "Sure, tell me all about your BIG FUZZY TESTES!" Jason remained composed, but was laughing his head off in his mind. The old Turret's syndrome routine worked every time.

Stacey finally entered the office, looking rumpled and her black hair was in a mess. Jason could tell she had more than the cafeteria tacos for lunch. "Why that sounds great USELESS DINGBAT!" Only half of that was directed towards the telemarketer.

Stacey laughed, clueless as ever. She'd seen Jason do his act before, but never caught on that not all of his outbursts were random. She slid the folder across the desk and returned to her post outside his door. When the telemarketer finally gave up, Jason picked it up and looked it over, a grimace spreading across his face.

He ran his hands through his short brown hair and cursed. The wizards at the Military Science branch had come up with another product to be reviewed for sale to the government. As anyone knew, screw-ups at the lab had created some of Patriot City's worst villains. He still had nightmares about the Swarm Lord; a man shaped swarm of bees that spewed radioactive death over three city blocks before the Freedom Force finally destroyed him.

No sense thinking about past screw-ups, he thought, you have a job to do to put food in your son's mouth.

Picking up his car keys and briefcase, he headed down to the parking lot to inspect their newest creation.

The lab covered roughly three city blocks and was located on the outskirts of town. Jason stood before it as he awaited his clearance, taking in the sight of the sterile looking, almost featureless white building, reminding him of one of those conspiracy films where Big Brother was watching you. Inside, the scientists were concerned with other matters, but at times these were no less disturbing. The massive doors opened, and he was lead by an armed guard to his rendezvous point with the lead scientist.

A man with neatly parted brown hair and a white lab coat approached him, smiling widely. Jason immediately recognized Colin Samhain; referred to in poor humor by Jason as Dr. Frankenstein. With a chuckle, Jason realized he even looked almost exactly like the actor who played the good doctor in the old black and white Frankenstein movie from the thirties.

Colin Clive, he thought, geez, they even have the same name.

"Ah, Mr. Clark, welcome!" Colin greeted in a theatrical British accent. "I do so hope you enjoy our newest development"

"Can the niceties, Colin. Let's just see what sin against God you've created this time."

"Sin against God? Oh no, Jason. With my newest development, man will be god."

Well, Jason thought, he's thoroughly off his rocker. "Show me what you've got."

Jason was lead by the tall, excited scientist down a sterile hall and into a massive chamber. Jason was instantly reminded of every bad science fiction movie he watched late at night when he couldn't sleep. A massive dome of reinforced glass dominated the room and was attached to a smaller, but still awe-inspiring control panel. Ominous looking cables snaked from the machine like sinews and ended attached to an alien looking canister stationed in the center of the dome.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jason whispered with dread, his blood turning to ice water.

"The most powerful catalyst known to man," Colin rasped in a voice that sounded to Jason like a cross between pride and the best orgasm he ever had, "Energy X."

Jason had never seen a canister of the substance himself, but knew what it was capable of. It granted anyone who came in contact with it fantastic powers, sometimes even warping their physical appearance. Some victims of the canisters used their powers for good like his hero, MinuteMan. Others, who had less stable minds used their powers for their own selfish desires, like the sinister Pinstripe. Jason shook off his fears and turned to Colin. "So what does it do?"

"My device," Colin began, smiling even wider, "will transform Energy X into a breathable gas that can cover a larger area than a traditional exposure, thereby allowing us to create an army of super powered soldiers."

Jason cringed. "I'll spare you the moral lecture. Has it been tested?"

The smile left Colin's face. "We were unable to perform any tests as of yet. The deadline called for us to have the gas reviewed by today, you understand."

Jason sighed. "Colin, your project is already behind schedule. You know the drill; rats, monkeys, humans. Just get it proved safe quickly or I'm afraid Omnicorp will have to cut your funding."

Jason turned to go as Colin's hands clenched into fists. He has worked his whole life to work with Energy X and has strained himself and denied himself sleep or a decent meal for far too many nights to allow some pencil pushing young punk deny him his greatest achievement.

In one unthinking outburst of anger, Colin launched his fist at Jason's face and punched him square in the jaw.

Jason turned slowly, his face a grim mask of anger.

"Big mistake, Frankenstein. Clear out your desk this minute, you can expect a formal pink slip by tomorrow morning."

Jason turned once again to go while Colin's mind raced. He couldn't be fired! No one was taking Energy X away from him. He blindly flung out his hand to grab something, anything, to cave the young businessman's head in for his impudence. His hand connected on something hard and cylindrical and Colin's hand brought it up to deliver a massive blow.

Jason dodged in time, but what he saw made him wish he'd been hit and spared the agony of what his eyes were receiving. "You idiot!" he screamed, "You've torn open the airlock!"

Purple gas flooded the room and both men began to cough and choke. Colin fell to the ground as Jason stumbled towards the door, his vision obscured by the gas and the haze of panic. He couldn't breath, and he needed to get out. He couldn't allow his wife to raise the baby by herself, couldn't leave her, period.

Jason's legs gave out, his lungs burning from lack of clean air. He collapsed to the floor, finally surrendering to the gas. "Natalie," he whispered to no one in particular, "I'm sorry." His mind was wandering elsewhere when the large man in the environmental suit hoisted him up.

Natalie sat in the waiting room, watching Ryan play with the building blocks and pretending to read her magazine. Jason's job left them well off, but she couldn't raise a two-year-old on an aerobics instructor's salary and afford the apartment. Please be safe, Jason, she prayed silently. She didn't notice the doctor until she heard his soothing voice. "Mrs. Clark?"

Natalie snapped out of her private world of dread and looked up, smiling weekly to hide her fears from Ryan and the doctor. "Yes, I'm Mrs. Clark. Is my husband all right?" She looked the doctor over. He was a tall African American man, with a mustache and hairstyle that vaguely reminded her of Will Smith.

"Your husband is fine." He said, smiling. "He only suffered minor suffocation, so there won't be any side effects."

"Can I see him?"

"Of course. He's been asking about you."

Relieved, Natalie smiled and took Ryan in her arms. She followed the doctor down the spotless, sterile looking hospital and into Jason's room. Jason smiled as he shut off the television and shifted into a sitting position. "Hey good looking. Come to give me some mouth to mouth?"

Natalie laughed "Don't scare me like that again, you nutjob." Jason loved it when she used the nickname she christened him with. He kissed her lovingly as he took Ryan from her. He turned his attention to the doctor. "Well, doc, how soon can I press charges against the jerk that landed me here?"

The doctor's expression stiffened. "I'm afraid Mr. Samhain didn't survive. He'd inhaled too much of the gas."

Jason's blood ran cold. That could have been me, he thought.

"The good news," the doctor continued, "is that there were no side effects and you can go home as soon as you wish."

"In that case," Jason said, smiling, "get my pants."

Ted brought the lukewarm lasagna up to his mouth and sneered while he chewed. He hated working the night sift in the morgue, but if he wanted to earn his medical degree, he had to do some work around the hospital. He just hated the morgue since it gave him the creeps. He'd spent a few too many nights watching bad horror movies than studying, and his imagination sometimes ran wild when he worked late at night.

Rattle, rattle!

Ted froze, waiting to see if the sound came again. "Oh man," he breathed, "just like that scene in Dead on Arrival." He mentally slapped himself. Take it easy, he scolded himself, it's just your imagination.

Rattle, rattle!

Right, my imagination..

"Help me," came the raspy, moaning plea from within one of the cooler drawers.

That is not my imagination!

Ted turned to run, then stopped to calm himself. What probably happened was one of the more irresponsible interns had made an error and sent a coma patient down with the other stiffs. He strained to hear the voice again.

"Help me..." it came again, louder this time, and in the drawer next to him.

"Hang on, I'm coming to get you out!"

He quickly pulled the drawer open, already writing his acceptance speech for hero of the year. When he saw the creature in the drawer, his taste of triumph turned to the taste of bile rising in his throat. Oh man! his mind screamed, it is a zombie!

He quickly corrected himself. Not a zombie just really deformed.

The creature in the drawer spoke. "What's the matter?" Its voice was high and nasal, reminding Ted of a cartoon skeleton. Ted reached and picked up a compact he had removed from one of the female corpses and handed it to the monstrous thing.

It screamed and began to sob, a sickening sound from a creature that had no tear ducts to speak of.

"Take it easy" Ted said soothingly, "We've got the best plastic surgeons in the state working for this hospital, we can repair some of the damage."

The thing snarled. "You did this to me, Clark! I'm going to make you pay!"

Clark. Jason Clark. Ted had heard about the explosion when his shift began. This man must have been the one who attacked Mr. Clark. "Mr. Samhain, you're in a lot of trouble right now. I think you should come with me to answer some questions."

The thing that was Colin Samhain howled in rage as a clawed and discolored hand shot out at Ted's throat. "I'm not going anywhere, except to pick up a few things to get back at Clark."

Ted didn't have time to scream.

To Be Continued...