The Final Evolution of Man

Chapter One
The Distant Future:

         Worldwide phenomenon spreads across social media: aurora borealis spans the skies of the entire planet, even during the daytime. Live feeds show the beautiful lights whipping through the skies and lighting up the earth as bright as day. For seven steady hours, the planet is posting videos about the supernatural event while scientists try to come up with a reason for this strange happening. After the seven hour visual display of solar wind disturbing earth's magnetosphere, the lights stop fluttering through the sky and billions of videos are swarming the internet about what created this cosmic event. Life returns to normal, even though the world is still astonished about the previous occurrences.

         A week later, a leaked image from Google Maps reveals a bolt of lightning coming from a very peculiar source. In the image is a streak of lightning shooting through a house, however, the source of the bolt is only a few yards away across the street where a navy blue car sits. It is almost as though it was a drive-by shooting incident, but instead of using weapons, the shooter used some form of lightning. After the government notices this image floating around the internet, there is an attempted cover-up, only making it more suspicious and believable. Conspiracies start to surface when five days after this image surfaces, a video goes viral on YouTube and Facebook.

         The video begins as a racial dispute between two boys in their mid-to-late teens in the middle of a public park. As usual, everyone whips out their phones to start recording when there is an argument becoming heated. The taunts become violent shoulder tapping, then it turns into shoving. Then the black boy steps back for a second, and in a cold tone he says, "You have no idea what I can do." He holds his hands down by his side, palms out while they start turn a blue color. A blue steam rises from his hand because they are so cold, and with an angry scowl and a swift jerk of his arms, the icy smoke starts flying toward the white boy to freeze him. The other boy only fired a warning shot, but the white boy decides to show him what he can do as well. For a split second, his eyes glow red before shooting two laser beams toward the other boy to fire back. The black boy shoots a continuous blast of cold with one hand, barely holding back the other boy's heat vision, while his other hand is aiming at the boy's foot. A large shard of ice slides its way into the boy's calf and he falls to one knee. The black boy walks over and stands over him with cold hands until the police arrive to dismiss the group of teens.

         For the next few months, the rest of the world would quickly start to acquire their new superpowers, no matter how weak or how powerful they are. At first, everyone thought that the videos and pictures were just someone creating nonsense, then there were conspiracy theories, next there were only "the lucky ones" that received their powers, and now the world is rapidly adjusting to the way that things are with a superhuman society. With the inclusion of science, mankind starts to develop the most advanced technologies imaginable. Even with the newer and more advanced technologies, people still wanted more and more, committing crimes and terrorizing cities. Too many under-powered police are unable to come to the people's aid in their time of need when the superhumans gone rogue begin terrorizing cities because they cannot handle the task of apprehending even a single assailant from time to time with superpowers, let alone two or more. With the police having trouble, the more powerful superhumans that are brave enough, try to be vigilantes and take on the superhumans that terrorize entire cities or get involved in even petty crimes. Humanity has finally evolved and probably for the last time. Evolution strikes the earth and now the world is preparing to crumble beneath itself. This final evolution of mankind could be for the better... or the worse.

         Only two months after the world's evolution began to emerge, a particular, normal college student by the name of Anthony Lance, is preparing for fall finals the semester before he receives his Bachelor's Degree in Business. A week prior to finals, he is headed for a party with some friends to celebrate Christmas early since three of their friends are residents and will be moving off campus for the next five weeks. He is walking to the door of his friend's apartment and hears a slight laughter coming from within. When he knocks, Michael opens the door to welcome him in and seat him with everyone on the couch. "There you are! It's about time work let you leave! What happened to seven o'clock?" Michael asks.

         "Sorry, man. They caught me on the way out and said it would only be an extra fifteen minutes, but at least I will be an hour and a half richer next paycheck! Plus I had to take a shower and... yeah you get it."

         "Hey, man... just glad you're here. We've been trying to text Jacques, but he won't respond. I know that we have all kinda gone our separate ways after him and Susan broke up, but no one was about to pick sides. Now he won't talk to any of us. He knows we're here and waiting on him to show up to see everyone one more time before break. He also knows that Susan is here, so maybe he decided he couldn't handle seeing her again."

         "Maybe... let's not stand out here talkin' about how we all split up, let's get in there and act like nothing ever happened!"

         The two of them walk in to get settled in. Dalton tries to pass Anthony a beer, "Here you go, bud. You've had an extra long day at work. I can see it in your mouth, you're thirsty!"

         "Heh, I wish man. I have to get up in the morning because I have to drive about an hour to get to my mom's."

         "Your mom's?! Lame!" Kaitlyn mocks him for his reasons, "What for? Got something important to do?" Kaitlyn's way of joking has always been teasing everyone of something and almost instantly taking it back. That's why her and Michael have always belonged together, but unfortunately she is with Juan, one of the guys that is going back home next week for Christmas. Juan is a good guy most definitely, but he and Kaitlyn just don't seem like the perfect match. They're too alike for their own good in some ways, and in other ways, they are too different. Michael should have asked her out first, but he lacked the courage and now feels all of the regret.

         "Sort of..." Anthony responds, "family is in town and they are all wanting to ride to Charlotte tomorrow in the morning, and I would've stayed the night if I didn't want to come to the party. I'm gonna miss you guys. You know?"

         "Hey, dude. Just crash here and set an alarm. What's the big deal?" Juan tries to convince Anthony to loosen up, but Anthony's mind was made up yesterday.

         "Sorry dude. I'm not going to my mom's hungover at the butt-ass crack of dawn tomorrow. Plus, I am gonna be exerting a lot of physical energy where we're going. I forget what the place is called, but we went last year and it was kick-ass! There was rafting and obstacle courses and all kind of awesome stuff to do."

         "You sound more excited about hanging out with your family than you do us!" Dalton says a little shocked, but still playful. Anthony almost is, but not because he isn't having fun, but because he knows that in a week, everyone will part ways for about five weeks. They all have their fun for a couple hours until they get on the big topic of the week. "So do any of you know what is up with all of this superpower bull crap?" Dalton starts it off.

         "Yeah, I've heard of it. I see it all over Facebook. Some of it sounds pretty cool, I mean I would not mind at all if superpowers were bestowed upon me to smite my enemies... but I don't think that I've done anything in my life that says, 'worthy of superpowers'." Anthony gives the first response.

         Michael looks real puzzled at first, "I think I would enjoy something really cool. I don't really know though. It sounds like it's probably all fake and it probably is, but I would like it to be real to an extent. I want some cool superpowers that are, like I said, cool: ice related. I doubt any of it is really true though. You all know how easy it is to edit stuff. I think that it's all one big troll."

         Alison speaks up after a long period of thought, "I don't think I like the idea of any of it very much. It all scares me. I might have a change of heart if it weren't for all of the danger and trouble it's already caused so far. Like if someone ever actually put their powers to good use, I might reconsider how I feel. I believe it may actually be true though... the stories. Images and videos. Governments don't do cover-ups for nothing." When she shutters in her seat, her boyfriend Collin comforts her with his arm around her shoulder. The apartment becomes quiet enough to hear a quill drop on the carpet. By midnight, everyone exchanges gifts and the night ends for Anthony.

         While the others pass out drunk in Michael's apartment, Anthony gives Michael a farewell hug, even though neither of them are leaving town, and he sneaks out the front door. On his way to the car across the parking lot, He runs into Jacques, leaning against a light post with a cigarette in his hand. Anthony slows his pace fearing the worst and not recognizing him at first. "Jacques? What're you doing out here? Did you come to join the party?" He doesn't say anything. He just puts out his cigarette and approaches Anthony. "Dude, are you alright?" Anthony asks while he slowly steps backwards.

         Jacques leaps at him, grabbing his shirt collar, "Give me everything you've got, bitch!" he yells into Anthony's face. "Jesus, man! What is wrong with you? Get off of me!" Anthony shoves him backward.

         "It's me, Anthony! What's your problem? Why are you after me?" Anthony gets real confused, but he realizes real quick that Jacques is probably high as a kite.

         Jacques gets louder, "I know who you are. I've had enough of your friendship. Any of yours! All of you just need to get out of my life... for good." He sticks out a knife and points it at Anthony. He is frozen for a second and thinks, "Jeez, Jacques really has gone off the deep end. He isn't returning from this point. He must blame us for him and Susan. This isn't him anymore." Anthony takes a couple of steps back. When Jacques rears his arm back to throw it, Anthony hurriedly stumbles backward and before he can turn around, a knife is flying toward his face. He just reacts by throwing his arms in front of his face and closing his eyes. When he does this, he feels a small surge of energy exit his body through his hands. An invisible force tosses back the knife at Jacques and pierces his chest. The same invisible force also swings Jacques back into the light post he was leaning against. He is out cold and bleeding, so Anthony runs to calls 9-1-1 from the safety of Michael's apartment.

         Bang bang bang! "Let me in, dude! It's Anthony!" The front door swings open. "What the hell, man. Are you alright?" Michael answers.

         "No, I'm not alright! I think I just killed Jacques! If not, I don't want to be out in the open when he comes looking for me!" As soon as he passes through the doorway, Anthony immediately starts dialing 9-1-1 from his smartphone.

         "What? Jacques? How? What did you do? Why was he here?" Anthony turns to Michael to answer his questions, and the look in his eyes and paleness of his face say "this is not a joke".

         "I saw him in the parking lot on the way to my car. He was just leaning against a pole and smoking a cigarette when I realized who he was. When I tried to talk to him, he just grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and started demanding I give him everything I had. It was like he didn't even know me. I threw him back and he said he wanted us all out of his life; I guess it was because he blames us for him and Susan. Then he raises a knife to me and--" Anthony is interrupted by the woman over the phone, "9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

         He takes his phone off of speaker and starts talking, "Um-- my friend has a knife in his chest and is unconscious." Michael's eyes widen to hear this and tries to listen to what the woman is saying. That statement starts to awaken Susan who was asleep on the couch. "Well, he attacked me in the parking lot of my friend's apartment. He wanted everything in my pockets and held a knife to me. When he threw it at me, I threw my arms up and something threw the knife back at him in thin air." Anthony looks nervous like she won't believe him.

         "What's going on?" Susan asks with her eyes half open. Michael walks over to the side of the couch and drops to his knees beside her, "It's Jacques. I don't really know anything else, but I think that he attacked Anthony and Anthony... may... have superpowers. From how it sounds, if it is true, he does." Susan's eyes are wide open.

         A half an hour later, the group is outside while the body is being rolled away on a gurney. Anthony explains to the police what happened and spends the night at the jailhouse being questioned along with the rest of his friends. Around four in the morning, they all get dropped off at Michael's apartment to finish out their night. They all follow Michael into his apartment and sit around silently. Anthony starts to speak, but Dalton cuts him off before he apologizes for something he doesn't believe is Anthony's fault. "Jacques chose this path and it served him everything he deserved. I think that someone so wicked does not deserve anything better, especially when he goes to such lengths."

         Collin also speaks for Anthony because he agrees with Dalton, "I agree. It wasn't your fault, Anthony. He betrayed his friends, so to me, Jacques was dead a long time ago. Just know that no one here blames you for this. We love you man." Everyone speaks up to support Collin's argument. Susan even says, "The only one to blame here is Jacques. He deserved it. Anyone else need a drink?" Everyone including Anthony says yes. Anthony pops the top on his beer and raises it up, "To Jacques. What he used to be." Everyone raises their glass, then they take a big swig. Six o'clock in the morning, they all pass out again.

         In the police office that morning, a couple of officers are reviewing the footage from the parking lot. A camera at the top of the light post Jacques was smoking at caught the entire thing. As soon as the sun went down, Jacques was standing at the light post, occasionally walking in and out of shot. When Anthony's car is driving through the parking lot, Jacques runs and hides behind a nearby vehicle. Then once Anthony encounters him in front of the post, the footage shows the officers how much of the story was the truth. It wasn't nothing that threw the knife back into Jacques's chest, it was in fact Anthony. The officers are shocked by what they're seeing, and they spend the next three hours replaying the same scene. No one can prove that the camera was tampered with or that Anthony isn't a superhuman. By one o'clock that afternoon, Anthony is proven innocent and Michael's theory was proven to be true.

Chapter Two
The Learning Stages:

         One week after Anthony discovered his powers, he is learning how to use them. At first he was flicking things around from the safety of his apartment with his mind, now he is finding a routine in doing things with his mind like fixing his food and cleaning the apartment. Susan, Kaitlyn and Juan are all back at their respective homes for the holidays and Anthony finished his last exam two days ago. Today he is sitting at home with no work and no classes and no plans, so he picks up his phone and calls Michael. Luckily, Michael is off today too, so Anthony levitates his keys and wallet to him and heads for the door. When he gets downstairs, his car is parked right next to the handicap spot, so he definitely got a good spot. He opens the door and sticks his foot in to sit, but before he can sit down, he hears tires screeching.

         Someone driving down the road is paying more attention to her phone than the asphalt ahead. She is creeping toward the left lane of traffic and nearly hits the car cruising beside her. She looks up to make sure she is straight, but to her dismay, she is about to high-five the blue sports car. She swerves to avoid him and tries not to fly off the road, so she spins the tire back, but the tail end of her car slaps the green "old-mobile" that was behind her in the lane. Her car spins toward the apartment buildings, but before she does a full rotation, the driver's side of the vehicle slams into a light post, blocking her in. The woman is out cold in the vehicle and no one is stopping to help her. Anthony jumps out of the car, slams his door and runs to the woman's aid.

         He gets to her car, only to find the doors still locked when he tugs on the handle of the passenger side door. The door is cracked slightly open after the impact, giving Anthony a leverage point to pry the door open. He gets ready by putting his left foot on the rear door and sliding his fingers behind the passenger door. He takes a deep breath and pulls, but when he does, the door comes flying off its hinges and goes sliding across the empty parking lot. Anthony is falling backward from throwing the door away from the car because he expected nothing more than not being able to open the door anyway. He stands there for a moment to look at his hands, and he tries to process that he just discovered a new ability. Quickly returning to action, Anthony jumps into the car to help the woman out or wake her up, but she took too hard of a blow to the head. A trail of blood is pouring down from her left temple very slowly, and she is pinned down by the airbag and seat belt. When Anthony climbs over the airbags to get to her, he tries to get her attention by saying, "Miss? Miss! Are you okay?" but there is no response, forcing him to help her out of her seat.

         Anthony tries to click the seat belt, but it just won't work. "Damn, must be jammed!" he yells at the thing. He thinks for a second then tries to pull the seat belt apart, and in a split second, the belt snaps and flings back into its usual position with the woman's arm still wrapped in it. He moves the seat belt around her arm and starts to pull her out of the seat. When he gets her over the center console, she begins to react and wake up as her butt is dragged across the emergency brake. Anthony lays the woman out flat on the ground beside the car, "Miss? Are you alright?" Her eyes open slowly as she frowns and moans about the aches and pains she feels throughout her body from the accident. "Ack! I'm alive. The only thing that matters though is that car I hit. What of them?" she grabs her back in pain, but still shows concern for the innocent car she hit. Anthony glances across the street to find the missing car, and they are parked on the other side of the road. One of them is leaning against the trunk of the car, on the phone with 9-1-1 while the other is staring at the damage done to the side of their car. "They seem to be fine," Anthony says. He helps her to her feet and offers to sit with her while she waits for the police and everything.

         The next hour later, things are settled, even though there will now be a court date set soon. The woman thanks Anthony before he finally heads off to Michael's apartment. When he arrives, the first thing that Michael does is give him grief, "Weren't you supposed to be here over an hour ago?"

         "Yes, but dude! The most amazing thing happened! This woman got in a car accident outside my apartment!" Anthony says with excitement.

         "And that's a good thing?"

         "No, but that's not what I meant. In the process of rescuing her from her car--"

         Michael cuts him off, "You got laid!"

         "No!"

         "Aww. Oh well. Continue."

         Anthony shakes his head like something just fell on it, "Anyways. I found out I have another superpower! Aside from having telekinesis and lifting objects with my mind, which I've been doing nonstop since I discovered them, I found out I have super strength too!"

         Michael almost doesn't believe him, but he knows that Anthony wouldn't make something up like this. "What? Another one? Are you gonna be one of those overpowered people that could punch his way through a planet?"

         "You know, it's probably not so bad to be the overpowered one, but it makes for a boring story when there is no challenge. Look at what I can do though! That is if I wasn't imagining the whole thing." He walks over to the fridge in the kitchen and scoops his hand under it. With no hint of effort or struggle, he briefly lifts the fridge with no hesitation at all before placing it back on the floor to keep everything from falling out. Michael's jaw is nearly on the floor, and he removes his glasses as if to make sure that he isn't just seeing something on his lenses. "Whoa. I almost didn't believe you when you said you had super strength. Well show me what else you can do because this is pretty damn cool!" Michael wants to see more demonstrations of what it is that Anthony can do, so he goes to the bar to start practicing with his car keys.

         Anthony places his keys on the counter and says, "Watch closely." He holds his hand up in the direction of the keys and they lift off the bar top toward Michael. Michael reaches out to grab the keys, but Anthony swings his arms to the right and the keys go flying onto the couch in the living room. Michael startles and snaps his arm back. Anthony is smirking at him on the other side of the bar and leans in to say something, "I've got an idea. Wanna see it?" Michael just steps back and gives Anthony the "go ahead" gesture with his arms. Anthony says, "Now I've been wondering how exactly my powers work because I still don't know if they have limits as to what I can lift, but I am pretty sure that telekinesis comes with levitation like it does in the movies." He holds his arms by his sides with his elbows bent and palms in the air just hoping that it will work. He concentrates and thinks hard about it, and within a mere moment, Anthony is lifting off the floor and heading into the ceiling fan. Everything was gracious until there was a big thud in the back of his head that broke his concentration, causing him to fall back to the floor. He just smiles and shrugs his shoulders, "Hmm, needs improvement, but I'm sure that like anything, with enough practice, I will be able to zip across the sky and barely even have to think about it." Michael is on the floor crying, laughing because Anthony ruined his perfect moment.

         A few hours later, Anthony and Michael are still messing with things in the apartment and testing Anthony's abilities. Eventually, Anthony is doing spectacular with how he is controlling his powers. He doesn't have to lift a finger to concentrate on lifting most things. Michael suggests they try some combat related stuff, and he starts throwing things at him to catch with his mind or throw it back. Random objects are flying across the living room in all directions the whole evening until Michael acts like he is exhausted. Fifteen minutes later, he disappears into the bathroom and creeps out to attempt a sneak attack on Anthony. As soon as he jumps on Anthony's back, Anthony tosses him over his shoulders and toward the door, but before Michael hits it, Anthony catches him with his mind. Michael is hanging upside down, panting from exhaustion, "Can you set me down now please?"

         "Yeah, sorry." Anthony sets him down gently on his head against the door.

         "So what do you want to do next? We can call Alison and Collin over to witness your talents! Or we can go out and you could possibly try to crime fight?"

         "Crime fight? I'm not a cop. And I don't want to get in trouble for being the good guy. Let's call the perfect couple over. Maybe they would be interested, and try Susan too. We need to see how she is doing anyways."

         "Alright. Let me call them. I'll get them all to come over if they aren't at work," Michael pulls his phone out his pocket and dials Collin's number first. "Hmm, hmm, hmm," Michael hums while he waits, but there is no answer. He hangs up when it goes to voicemail and dials Alison's number instead. When the phone is answered, Collin answers instead, "Hey, Collin! What's goin' on man? I just tried to call your phone. Y'all wanna come over?" After a minute or two, Michael says, "Okay. Awesome! See you when you get here!" He hangs up the phone and looks at Anthony, "Collin is coming over, but Alison is getting ready to go to work, so let me call Susan now."

         When he calls Susan's phone, she answers immediately with a lack of enthusiasm in her voice, "Hey, Susan! Are you alright? You don't sound so good." Michael "mhm"s her real quick and walks into his bedroom to speak privately. Anthony sits on the couch and waits for Michael to enter the room again. He waits for a moment and immediately gets bored, so he flops over and situates to lay upside-down with his feet at the head of the couch and his head nearly touching the floor. He looks across the apartment from the floor, and suddenly the floor becomes further away from his head. Anthony keeps lifting the couch from the floor and dropping it back down. When Michael walks back in, he drops the couch and rolls back onto the floor. He hops up and turns around toward Michael to ask what Susan is doing, and Michael speaks first, "Susan isn't coming either. She said she needs time to cope. I think she just wasn't over him yet."

         Michael sits on the couch next to Anthony, and Anthony flips the television on until Collin arrives. The only thing on the television is news debating superhumans and the possibilities. Hundreds of accounts of superhuman abilities turned into thousands since the beginning, and scientists say that the aurora borealis that occurred almost three months ago is cause for the outbreak in all of these sudden happenings. The news reports that scientists don't yet know how long the affects will last for or if they will be permanent, but they suggest that the whole world has been affected in some form or another. They have recommended that everyone go to their local doctor and gets checked out to see if they were affected. When the news goes to commercial, Anthony turns off the TV, then a moment later, there is a knock on the door.

         Michael answers the door and Collin walks in, "Hey, guys. What's up? What did you call me over here for?" Michael gets excited and says, "Here! You've gotta see this! Anthony, do something!"