Chapter 1

For as long as he could remember, Michael always felt different. Different from everybody else he knew. Maybe this was why he was always so shy and reserved around people he didn't know well. Or perhaps it was just his slightly higher than average intelligence and less than average athleticism and self-confidence. For the most part, Mike was rather un-noteworthy, often blending into the background: he was barely six feet tall, kind of scrawny and wore thick glasses. He wasn't necessarily unhappy (though he did take his share of abuse from his peers), just quietly uninteresting. That all changed shortly after his sixteenth birthday.

Awakening to the squawking of his alarm clock, Mike found none of the normal drag in his step as he climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He was fully awake already, on a Monday morning no less. Stepping into the his bathroom, he examined himself in the mirror.

Hmm, have I lost weight? Very nice. He grinned as he mock-flexed, showing off his slightly less wimpy physique. Wait a minute! I'm not wearing my glasses! Staring right at the glass, he wondered how he could see anything beyond his nose. Heh heh, I'll bet no one notices.

After a quick shower and dressing, Mike headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. He was right, neither his parents, nor his sister even noticed that he was didn't need his glasses. They also didn't notice that he only picked at his food, barely eating anything. After a few minutes, he excused himself and headed off to school.

Normally he would have waited and gotten a ride with Jennifer, his sister, but Mike had some energy to burn off, and since he was leaving early he should be able to make it to school in time. The beaten path through the forest that lay between Mike's house and school property normally took about a half-hour. A half-hour if he'd been walking that is, Michael felt compelled to run the whole way, making it in less than five minutes.

When he got there, Mike found that he hadn't broken a sweat or even started breathing hard. Wow, I LIKE this, the thought. Walking through the hallways, currently only populated by those few who showed up thirty minutes early, Michael got an odd sensation from everyone he passed. He felt a bizarre, pulsing warmth, getting stronger as he got closer. Weird, totally weird.

When classes finally started, Mike had already staked his claim on a good seat in the back corner of the room. Despite his preoccupation with whatever was happening to him, Mike found that he was following the teacher's lecture with unnatural ease. When called on to answer a particularly difficult question, he blurted out the answer without really thinking or paying attention.

Hmm, the thought. Maybe I can finally get some attention now. Just by thinking it, he felt a slight surge of warmth go through his body. One by one, everyone in the class, even the teacher, stopped what they were doing and turned to him. The room was filled with an awkward silence for some time, everyone just stared, as if expecting him to say or do something.

Shit, um... Ignore me entirely. I'm not here! That same surge went through him and everyone turned back and went about their business. That was weird, how did I do that!?!

Mike spent the rest of the class experimenting, figuring out what he could and couldn't do. As it turned out, he could control just how much notice people payed him, from center of attention to not even there. Furthermore, this effect radiated outward from him and seemed to be affected by the flow of air. Pheromones maybe? Deciding simply to accept it, he found he actually liked not being noticed now.

When class ended, Mike headed to his locker to change books and contemplate his newfound powers. This was interrupted by a locker door slamming into his head.

"Watch it twerp!" The owner of the locker growled. Turning to see who that was, Mike saw the captain of the football team looking at him angrily. Word was that Chuck had been cut yesterday, due to too many low marks, and he was looking for someone to take it out on.

Normally, Mike would have shrunk back with a quiet apology, hoping to avoid a beating, but today he felt totally disinterested by the brute. "Fuck off" He said flatly and turned around to walk away. He'd only moved two steps when Chuck grabbed his shoulder, spun him back and punched him squarely in the jaw.

Part of Mike had expected this, and yet he'd gone ahead anyway - it was as if on some level he no longer saw Chuck as a threat.

The blow staggered him back a few feet, but the pain disappeared quickly - too quickly. By the time Chuck realized that Mike was still standing, it was if he'd never been hit. Grinning a little, Mike felt something surge through him, everything he saw and heard became sharper. His body seemed so much lighter as he shifted his weight and everyone seemed to move a little slower.

Chuck pulled his arm back for a second swing. Even though Mike saw it coming, he waited. It wasn't until the fist was less than an inch from his face that Mike acted. Fueled entirely by instinct, he grabbed Chuck's wrist and threw him clear across the hallway. The football player struck the wall with a thump and promptly fell into a heap on the floor.

As the rush started to fade, Mike noticed that it didn't fade all the way - his senses remained very keen and he found he could still move with an impossible degree of ease. Becoming quickly aware of the throng of students surrounding him, shouting his name, Mike decided he definitely did not want the attention. Whatever was happening to him, he didn't want it to be scrutinized. A quick burst of pheromones quelled this riot, and even erased their memory of the event. People looked around and found the unconscious jock and wondered what had transpired.

"What happened to Chuck?"

"I don't know. Looks like someone finally put him down."

"Wish I'd seen it."

"Yeah."

This has definite possibilities, Mike thought as he walked to his next class. Strolling down the hall, he reveled in his senses. Every voice, face and scent could be made out so clearly that it seemed surreal. Mike's awareness expanded exponentially until he was able to identify the heartbeat of everyone on the same floor as him. He was roused from this when the bell rang, finding that he'd stopped walking and had been just standing there, lost in his senses. Lucky thing everyone has to ignore me, he thought with a grin.

The remainder of the day passed without any real incident. Michael spent much of it exercising his newfound abilities. He learned to better focus his senses, sharpening them to an unbelievable degree. Furthermore, his mind had grown as well - he could mentally file and cross-reference anything he'd ever experienced with ease. To call his memory photographic would be an understatement, he could even recall any conversation that had occurred within earshot or the exact words of a sign or page that he'd glanced at but never read. Okay, so school is going to be a whole lot easier now.

After last class was over, Mike headed to his locker. He noticed that Chuck wasn't. With a chuckle, Mike left the school and started to cross the soccer field to the forest path. It was then that he sensed them, five of them. Searching his memory, Mike found that they had been following him since he left his locker. He could smell their aggression and hear their mutterings. They were Chuck and his friends (football players all), apparently intended to serve up some payback. Hmm, I guess Chuck was out of range for that pheromone burst. Dammit.

Slowing and finally stopping, Mike allowed them to catch up and surround him. Might as well get this over with. Chuck spoke up first.

"You're gonna pay for sucker-punching me freak."

"Sucker-punch? As a remember it, you took the first swing." Despite the odds, Mike in no way felt threatened by the group. Slowly he felt that same rush flow through him, his instincts were feeding impulses to him, all he had to do was let them go at the right time.

"Lair! Get him!" Chuck shouted as the four athletes began to close in on Mike.

By now, Mike's senses were so sharp he could tell what everyone was going to do, before they did it, even without actually seeing them. He sensed the two behind him charging to strike him down. Mike's reaction was even faster than he could imagine.

Ducking under their attacks, he reached up and grabbed the one on the left by the throat. Not even using all of his strength, he flipped the linebacker over his head and slammed him down hard on the ground in front. Simultaneously, he arm shot out and chopped down on the other's neck. Mike didn't need heightened hearing to pick up the sound of a collar bone snapping like a twig.

Chuck's other two friends stopped cold and were going to back off, but Mike's instincts never gave them the chance. Propelling himself ten feet with a single leap, Michael tackled one, hammering him onto the ground hard enough to break three ribs. Crouching over the unconscious body, he looked at the other.

The last of Chuck's entourage was truly panicking, his eyes wide and jaw slack. As Mike slowly stood and walked up to him, he reached back and pulled a pistol from his waistband. With shaky hands, he pointed it at Mike.

SHIT! Why doesn't that scare me?

BANG! The first shot missed him entirely.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The next three were right on target. However instead of felling Mike, they barely made him slow his step. He kept on walking, even though a trio of nine millimeter slugs were buried in his chest, they barely even hurt.

BANG! BANG! CLICK CLICK CLICK The last two rounds in the revolver were fired harmlessly in the air, as Mike had already grabbed the gunman's arm and was holding it over his head. In fact, Mike had lifted the man off of the ground by his arm.

With a flick of the wrist, Michael sent him flying. Then he turned to Chuck, who'd been watching the whole fight with an incredulous look on his face. It wasn't until Mike finally looked back at him that it occurred to him that he should run. Taking off like a shot, Chuck barely made it ten meters away before Mike leaped clear over and landed in front of him with the grace of a jungle cat.

"Do NOT fuck with me!" Mike said flatly, internally forcing his instincts back into submersion. Chuck could do nothing but gibber as Mike looked straight through him. Feeling a slight surge, he locked eyes with Chuck and spoke. "This never happened, explain that to your friends when the wake up, tell them to say you guys were mugged or something."

Mike was surprised when Chuck's eyes glazed over. As if he were hypnotized. With a little more concentration, Mike released a major burst of 'invisibility' pheromones and made sure they touched everyone. That'll fix that, now what was up with Chuck?

Michael considered how his ability to influence others had grown as he walked home. Feeling a little restless, he began to run, then sprint. He wasn't even taking the path anymore, he ducked and weaved through the forest at full speed. When he jumped, just a little to hop over a fallen log, Mike instead found himself flying up through the forest ceiling and then gliding back down to the ground. The exhilaration was amazing, he could just clear over a full-grown pine tree and take the landing without breaking stride.

When he got home however, things got bad. Stopping in his backyard, he doubled over in hunger pangs. He hadn't been able to eat much of his lunch today, just nibbling really, but now he was starving. Composing himself a little, he staggered into the house. Hmm, the house is empty... Good. Going into the kitchen, he grabbed a sandwich, but he couldn't eat more than a few bites. God dammit, I'm dying of hunger but I can't eat anything. What am I hungry for?

His search for food was interrupted by the doorbell. Taking a moment to concentrate and compose himself, Mike answered the door.

"Hiya Mike!" It was Lucy, one of Mike's few friends. It occurred to him that he hadn't seen here all day.

"Hey Lucy. What happened to you today." He invited her in.

"I had to visit Grandma, so now I need to get the homework from you... and maybe some help with it." Lucy had been relying on Mike's tutelage for years to get her through school.

"Um... yeah sure. Let's go up to my room."

"Kay, what happened to your glasses?"

"Wait until you hear." Mike decided to tell her what had been happening to him. She was one of the few people he really trusted, and he needed to tell someone.

They walked up the stairs to his bedroom. Lucy took a seat on his bed, while Mike gracefully sat down in the chair.

"Wow Mike, have you been working out at night or something" She reached out and squeezed his left arm. Looking down, he saw what she meant, his stick-like arms has grown, becoming wiry, well-defined muscular ones.

"That's what I've gotta tell you." He said. "Ever since I got up today, things have been different."

"Different how?" Lucy was genuinely curious.

"Well for one thing, I don't need my glasses anymore, and I can control peoples' emotions, even hypnotize them." Lucy's eyebrow went up in disbelief.

"Plus, I managed to not only beat up Chuck today, but I leveled four of his friends."

"Yeah, right." She obviously thought he was full of shit.

"Oh yeah? Look at this." Opening his jacket and lifting his tee shirt, Mike showed her the three wounds he'd received today, and not given a second thought to.

Lucy gasped as she looked at his chest. "Nice chest, look how ripped it is."