He flutters his eyes open, and he was now staring at a beautiful female doctor staring at her electronic pad intensely. She absently tucked a strand of her long brunette hair into her ears before she started typing again furiously.

The nurse behind her was the first one to notice that Darion was awake. Again. She gasped, before grabbing the doctor's attention.

The doctor turned to Darion and narrowed her eyes. As if she is annoyed that Darion did not warn her that he is already awake.

"Mr. Libinski? My name is Doctor Aimee Cobbs. You are in St.Hope hospital in Oconee County, Georgia. You- ... you had an accident. Do you understand me?" She said, with a hint of a southern drawl in her voice.

Darion nodded, and he groaned loudly as the simple act hurt his head. "Are my father and friends, okay?" The inside of his mouth felt like sandpaper.

She blinked. "Oh! You mean- yes! They are perfectly fine," Dr. Cobbs said.

She consulted her pad again and checked on something. "The event that we are talking about made them unconscious but only for a short period of time. There are a total of 14 people, including you, that collapse near the diner. Those who are affected included your father and two friends Alana Mayhew and Ernesto Santos. About 8 diners in total were brought to the hospital, and the other 4 regain consciousness within minutes of collapsing. The three others woke up 12-48 hours after that.

Your father was unconscious only for a few hours after the event, while your friend Alana Mayhew was asleep for an entire day. Ernesto Santos was the longest one among them and was in a coma for just under two days. But he woke up and after a series of tests, was declared fit and left the hospital.

You... you are the last one to awaken."

Darion grunted his acknowledgment, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He listened as the doctor assured him that his parents are already informed of his change in condition, and they are already on their way here. His mom was just actually in the hospital visiting him that morning and left for the day.

Within 35 minutes, both his dad and mom charged into his room, and seeing him awake, burst into tears as they hugged him. He was happy to see them, but instantly, he knew something was wrong the moment they held him in their arms. It was like seeing their son brought back to life. The intensity of their hugs and how they wept as if the dam broke made him look at them with concern. Their unexpected burst of emotion was almost terrifying.

"Don't worry mom, I'm okay," he whispered to her ear, and she just bawled over even more. His dad, who as long as Darion remember, has always been the rock that held them together, was not much better.

Finally, both were able to release their tension and is now much more composed. Darion's parents were looking at him so profoundly as if they were tracing every hair, every contour of his face, and it's making him uncomfortable.

Doctor Cobbs was beside them, and she gave them a quick summary of his vital signs to reassure them that he is stable now. Hell, if you listen to the info she was giving them, he was better than good. According to her, he lost 12 lbs and is now on his ideal weight bracket for his height and age. But the concern and worry remain on his parent's faces. They try to hide it from him, but it was obvious for everyone to see. This worried Darion even more.

Darion frowned. What the hell happened to me? More likely, this is about the damn cost of his hospitalization. It must be ginormous!

Well, don't worry, mom and dad, I will spend the summer and more if need be to help you guys pay for my expenses. You will not be alone in this!

"Son, we need to tell you something," his dad said gravely. The last time his dad called him "son" was the day his dog Bullet had died when he was seven.

Darion just stared at them.

"That day,-"

"The news called it VE Day," her mom interrupted. Darion just smiled at her. She always interrupts his dad when she is nervous. "VE for 'Void Empowerment' Day."

Darion raised an eyebrow, and his dad just grunted. "Well, you see, son, that day turned out to be a very special day. According to the news, when VE day comes, just over 1.5 percent of all the world's population just suddenly fell and went into a coma. That's about 105 million people. About 30 percent of all that people were in the wrong place, like in a pool, or on a plane, or simply just died in their coma, either way, that represented about 32 million people dead. That means almost 70 million people went into a coma and then woke up again."

Darion just looked at his parents uncomprehendingly. The numbers they were giving him was mind-boggling that he could barely absorb it and kept it as a statistic in his mind. His parents, in turn, looked at each other. His mom nodded quietly to his dad, and his dad continued to explain. "After several days, the average is a week to ten days, those of us who woke up from the coma... well, started manifesting a few capabilities."

Again, Darion frowned at him. He turned to his mom, then back at his dad, "What kind of capabilities?"

His dad just shrugged. "Mostly increase physical strength. I can now do 300 pushups in one go," he said proudly. Darion almost whistled. As long as Darion remembered, His dad could barely do two pushups his entire life. But 300?

"Also, increase endurance and better overall constitution. Most of us don't get sick anymore. We also receive a visible increase in our balance, speed, and a few more handy stuff."

"Your father can now eat almost anything he wants without any problem, like gaining weight or getting heartburns. That is the only thing I find I am jealous of in all this hero thing."

Darion caught on to that. "Hero thing?" he said very slowly.

His dad flinched a bit, then nodded. "Yes, son," he said gravely, looking at his son's reaction very carefully. "You see, they are calling these days we are leaving in as the golden age of heroes."

Darion stared at them, checking if they are making fun of him, while they nervously stared back at him. "Heroes," Darion repeated, almost sardonically. "As in superheroes. Like comic books and in the movies."

Both his parents slowly nodded to him. "Yes, like that," His dad said. "Almost 99 percent of all the people that blocked out during VE day gained some sort of basic strength and speed and a bit of invulnerability. But the most important thing is that each one of us gained a kind of a unique form of abilities that mainly differentiate us from one another."

Darion didn't know if he wanted to cry or laughed in their faces. This conversation threw out in the window all of his expectations and gave him a curveball instead. Heroes? Superpowers?! What the fuck should I say to that?!

"I know it is a lot to take in, but you need to be prepared for your own awakening," he said.

Now he's dad received his full attention. "Wait, what?" he asked incredulously. "Are you saying- that I'm- I'm ... what?!"

His dad sighed, and his mom gave him a reassuring pat on his arm. "As I said before, it is almost assured that all people who blacked out, that basically includes you, will receive some sort of ability, and that will classify you as one of the empowered, like me."

"This has to be some sort of mistake," Darion said, his voice rising as his panic started to overwhelm him. One moment he was enjoying his life, and then all of a sudden, he is now a superhero? What the fuck?!

He felt when another person held him gently by the shoulder and patted his back. Darion turned from his bed, and he gasped. He turned to his dad, who is sitting down in front of him, and then to another copy of him standing right next to him, patting his shoulders. His head keeps whipping from one dad to the other. There was a sad amusement on both their faces, but Darion, for the life of him, could not find anything different from the two, including the glasses they wore.

"This is my ability, my unique ability," his dad said. "I can duplicate myself multiple times."

Despite himself, he could not help but be intrigued. Darion turned to his dad, the one standing near him, and touched him hesitantly. He was real. Both of them are. "H-How many can you create?"

His dad shrugged, fixing his thick eyeglasses back to his nose. "About a dozen," he said honestly. "Maybe more. When I first manifested my powers, I can only do two. But it became easier as time goes by, and now I can do a few more batches so I can patrol our neighborhood."

Darion nodded. He could think of a lot of ways to exploit that. His dad's power, if properly used, can be a cheat all on its own. For one thing, one can do multiple Home works while the real him can do other things, like spend more time with Alana.

High school will be a breeze.

"Can I have the same powers as you?"

His dad chuckled. "No son, almost every power we see are all unique from each other. There are a variation of the same theme, of course, like fire, and ice, and healing. It might look the same, but all of their powers work almost differently from one another. More likely, you will have something different from mine."

Darion nodded reluctantly. In a way, it makes sense. It was almost logical to whoever gave them that power to provide them with different abilities. If they are being experimented on, it is just reasonable to give them as wide a variation as possible to get the most from the experiment.

“Fine," he said to himself firmly. "I understand. I know that this, whatever this is, will drastically change our lives but I am ready to adapt to the changes."

His dad nodded approvingly. "I knew you would be able to deal with this. It will be hard at first, but I want you to know that your family is here for you, and we will get passed this sooner or later."

He gripped his mom's hand harder, and his resolved hardened. At least I still have my family and my friends, he thought grimly.

"By the way, what kind of power did Alana get? And Ernie? I wouldn't be surprised if that big oaf becomes the hulk or something.

His mom and dad exchange worried glances once more. Suddenly they were uncomfortable again.

"Before that son, you need to know that there are other changes that happened while you are asleep. You see, your case is a bit different even for us empowered beings."

Darion raised an eyebrow. "So that is what we are calling ourselves? Empowered beings?"

"Yes, and no," his mom answered this time. “The news outlets are using different titles for you and your dad, depending on what side of the divide you are in. You guys are called Metahumans, homosuperiors, Empowered, or you can be called freaks, mutated, or tainted."

"But that is not the point, you see even for us empowered, you are a bit special, or a bit abnormal. You see, son, you are the last of all those who went into a coma to wake up. And...ah..."

"Dad?"

"look, there is no right way to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out,” his dad said. “Darion, you've been in a coma for the last three years.”

Darion stared at his dad.

Three years?

Three.

Fucking.

Years.

While the rest were able to have a grip on this phenomenon and learn about these shitty powers, he was goddamn sleeping in this hospital. For three fucking years!

That's why there was something wrong with his balance and muscle coordination; the doctor finally explained to him. He grew up a few inches in the interim, and suddenly he is not used to his new height and weight.

"Alana and Ernesto, last I heard, is studying as seniors in a hero academy back in Atlanta," His dad said. Darion hated the pity in his eyes. "And son, you need to understand that three years is a long time. Ernesto and Alana... well, they are a couple now."

The blood drained out of him and was replaced by cold ice. He didn't say anything for a long while.

"I… I see..." Darion finally said. He swallowed the bile in his throat as he struggled to force his body to relax from its tense state.

"I see."