Jacob watched blankly as his father brutally whipped his mother right in front of him.
It had happened so many times that it no longer felt shocking. It felt normal.
"If only I had superpowers..." he murmured.
Father's head snapped toward him.
"What the fuck did you just say?!"
Without hesitation, Father turned the belt on Jacob.
It didn't hurt anymore.
Jacob wanted to die.
But every time the thought crossed his mind, fear always followed.
He was terrified of death.
Mother wanted it to end too.
But she couldn't leave Jacob behind to suffer alone.
Father was even harsher than usual that day. After all, he'd just finished an entire carton of beer.
Beer foam dribbled from his mouth like a rabid dog as he hung Mother by her wrists and tied her feet together.
"We're gonna play..." Father burped loudly. "Play a game! Alright, Jacob?"
Jacob could only nod.
Father tossed the belt onto the floor in front of him.
"There isn't really a game..." He smiled. "I just want you to beat the shit out of her."
Jacob looked into Mother's empty eyes.
He couldn't do it.
The belt slipped from his hand and hit the floor.
What came next was another brutal beating from his father.
Jacob and Mother survived on Father's leftovers, eating only when he wasn't looking.
"If only I had superpowers..." Jacob thought.
Every night, Jacob could hear his father grunting from the other room.
Whenever Father left the house, he always tied Jacob and Mother to separate doorknobs before leaving.
"If only we had superpowers..."
---
2 DAYS LATER
It was midnight.
But this was the night Jacob and Mother had dreamed of.
The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the house.
Father jolted awake and immediately rushed downstairs.
A homeless man had broken into the house.
"Get the fuck out of here or I'll call the cops, hobo!" Father shouted.
Just as the homeless man was about to run away, he noticed Mother crawling out of the room.
She looked horrible.
She was painfully skinny. Dark eye bags hung beneath her eyes, her hair was a tangled mess, and bruises covered her body.
Everything about her was wrong.
Father looked back at Mother and immediately panicked.
"I said get the fuck out of here or I'll kill you myself!"
Mother barely had any strength left. But she dug deep, gathering every last bit of strength she had left.
"Call the cops!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "He beats me and my son! Please!"
Those were the only words she managed to get out.
Thankfully, the homeless man heard her.
He nodded once before bolting down the street.
Father immediately gave chase, making sure to lock the front door behind him.
The distance between them grew with every passing second.
And with every passing second, Father became more desperate.
"I'll give you money!" he shouted. "I'll give you anything you want!"
To Father's surprise, the homeless man stopped. Hope flashed across Father's face.
"That's right!" he said, breathing heavily. "I'll give you anything you ask for! Anything!"
The homeless man slowly turned around.
"Anything?"
"Fucking anything!"
A wide grin spread across the man's face. "Give me a thousand dollars."
Father nodded frantically. "You got it! Just follow me back to my house and I'll give it to you right now!"
The homeless man followed, keeping several meters between them. "I want you to throw it to me," he said. "I don't trust you."
"Absolutely, sir."
Father returned with a stack of cash and threw it toward him.
The homeless man picked it up and laughed. "Sweet!"
He stuffed the money into his bag. Then he turned and began walking away.
Father finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the homeless man stopped.
Father's heart sank.
"And I want food too!"
Father groaned. "Oh, come on, man! You can buy plenty of food with that money!"
The homeless man's smile disappeared. "Don't make me call the fucking cops."
Father threw his hands into the air. "Alright! Alright! I'll get you some food."
A few moments later, Father returned with a bag full of canned food.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"You don't." The homeless man shrugged. "You just have to. I've already got your money."
Father stared at him. "...How do I know you won't tell the cops?"
"I won't, buddy. I came here to rob someone, not save someone." He slung the bag over his shoulder. "Like I said... you'll just have to trust me."
Father had no choice. He let him go.
The night was unusually quiet. So quiet that Jacob had heard every single word from upstairs. He couldn't believe it.
Mother stared at the front door in disbelief. "No..." she whispered. "There's no way... He has to tell the cops... he has to..."
The front door slammed shut.
Father stood there, breathing heavily, his face twisted with rage.
"Look what you've done, bitch!" he screamed. "You've drained our money and our food!"
Mother broke down in tears.
She already knew nothing she said would matter.
"How... is this my fault...?" she whispered.
Father grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back into the room.
---
3 DAYS LATER
The world had already forgotten about Monarch, and that was exactly what Rouge had hoped for.
Over the past week, Rouge had tested the serum, now designated Composite V1, on ten human subjects.
Every single trial had ended in failure.
With little hope remaining, Rouge ordered the scientists to develop a safer, albeit weaker, variant.
Rouge walked into the lab.
"Any news?"
"Yes, sir." A scientist stepped forward, tablet in hand. "Our previous formulations failed because Composite V1 reacted violently with human blood. The interaction caused widespread cellular degradation, effectively destroying both the serum and the host's cells."
Rouge listened in silence.
"So we attempted a different approach," the scientist continued. "Instead of introducing V1 directly into human blood, we engineered the serum to mimic the molecular composition of human plasma. The reaction was... unexpectedly stable."
He picked up a vial filled with a glowing blue liquid.
"Rather than breaking down, the two structures bonded together. The serum also underwent a complete chemical shift. Its color changed from dark red... to bright blue. We've designated the compound 'Composite V.'"
Rouge took the vial from his hand, examining it against the light.
"Have you tested it?"
"We administered it to several animal models—rabbits, rats, and hamsters. Every subject exhibited signs of power manifestation... but all of them died within minutes."
Rouge sighed. "But we still haven't tested it on humans, have we?"
The scientist shook his head.
Rouge smiled. "Good. Bring me three subjects. One average man. One physically fit man." Rouge paused. "And one corpse."
The scientist frowned. "...A corpse?"
"Yes." Rouge folded his arms. "I'm interested to see how Composite V interacts with dead tissue."
---
Eventually, all three subjects were injected with Composite V.
The corpse showed no reaction.
The other two men didn't appear to react either.
Rouge walked to the observation window overlooking the fit man's chamber.
"How are you feeling?"
The man looked around. "Fine..."
"You seem unsure."
"I'm totally fine. I'm just confused on what all this is about."
"Anything unusual?"
The man thought for a moment. "...I feel good."
Rouge tilted his head slightly. "Good how?"
"I don't know... I just feel way more energetic. Like I could run a marathon without getting tired."
Rouge nodded. "Punch the wall."
The man blinked. "What? That's gonna hurt."
"It's an order."
The man let out a groan.
He clenched his fist and drove it into the concrete wall.
BOOM.
The wall exploded inward.
Chunks of concrete crashed across the floor, shaking the laboratory.
The man stared at the hole in disbelief. "No way..."
He hurried to the reinforced steel door and punched it.
The blast ripped it clean off its hinges.
Rouge remained expressionless. "Return to your chamber."
The man laughed. "Fuck you. I don't take orders anymore." A grin spread across his face. "I've got superpowers."
Sirens blared.
Soldiers rushed into the laboratory and immediately opened fire.
Every bullet flattened against his skin.
The man threw his arms into the air. "I'm fucking invincible!!"
A blur slammed into him from the side.
The average man.
Rouge had ordered him to restrain the fit man.
The two collided with tremendous force, tearing through the laboratory as they exchanged blows.
Tables shattered, equipment exploded, concrete cracked beneath their feet.
The battle raged until the fit man finally overpowered him.
He pinned the average man to the ground. "Stay the fuck down, dipshit!"
A knife pierced straight through his skull. He died instantly.
The average man looked up, panting heavily.
Rouge stood behind the corpse, calmly pulling the knife free.
"Thank you, sir..."
Electricity surged through the average man's body.
He screamed as thousands of volts coursed through him.
Before he could recover—Rouge buried the knife into his chest.
Silence filled the laboratory.
Rouge looked down at the two bodies. "Humans can't be trusted. Weapons can."
He turned toward the scientists.
"Composite V does not exist outside this room."
His gaze swept across every face. "The people who know about it... already know. Anyone else... dies."
The room fell silent.
One scientist slowly raised his hand. "How can you be so sure we won't inject ourselves?"
Rouge sighed.
"Because you'd be ruining your own lives by doing that"