Barry stood in the center of his room with his right fist clenched. He inhaled deeply, focused—and a coat of crackling electricity wrapped around his hand. The glow flickered wildly, lighting the room in blue flashes… and then vanished.
He exhaled.
"Again,out of stored electricity," he muttered.
He continued speaking to us like he was updating an ongoing log of his new life.
"Yo, welcome back, guys," Barry said with a confident grin. "So as you all remember what happened in the last chapter—I got powers. I can manipulate electricity, store it, and apparently my physical abilities shot up too."
He stretched his arm, remembering.
"When I was in my dad's garage, I lifted his car with one hand. Only from one side, but still—pretty insane. I figured if my senses were sharper, maybe my strength improved too. Turns out I was right."
He walked around the room, pacing with excitement.
"I've done a bunch of tests since then—charging my phone with a touch, turning on the TV without getting up from the sofa, blasting a tree with lightning bolts… fun stuff. But I figured out something important."
Barry raised a finger dramatically.
"I can manipulate electricity, but I can't generate it. My body only stores whatever electricity I absorb. I don't know the max capacity yet, or how much voltage I can safely take, but—meh—I'll figure that out later."
He grabbed his backpack, smirking.
"Because right now, I want to try something new. Test my powers on actual bad guys. There's a place in the city I have found on web that it is rumored for smuggling drugs, weapons, artifacts, gold—basically a playground of crime."
Barry headed downstairs.
"I'm going cycling near Steve's soo called workplace! Just going to see him!" he called out.
He grabbed his helmet, hopped on his cycle, and leaved through the iron gate.
After a short while. As he passed the small office where Steve worked with his school friends and a few trusted people, Steve was glancing out of the window and froze.
"Barry? Where is he going so fast?!"
Steve stepped outside.
"This is a good chance to ask him to join us at the office."he thoughts and ran back inside.
"Guys, I'm heading out for something important. I'll be back later."
By the time he came outside the building, Barry was already far down the road, cycling at a speed Steve had never seen before.
"How is he that fast...?"
Steve scanned the alley. A stack of empty metal drums caught his eye. He placed his hand on them. Instantly, the drums transformed—shifting into the special LEGO-like material his power could create. The blocks rearranged under his command, forming a sturdy cycle.
He climbed on and pedaled hard, following Barry.
After about fifteen minutes, Barry slowed down near a shady street market. He parked his cycle, locked it, and walked deeper inside.
Steve hid a bit far, watching.
"What is he doing here?"
Barry scanned the area. Many people around him had the look of smugglers. Then his hearing picked up something:
Two men whispering about transferring drugs.
They mentioned that they were the only ones at their hideout.
Their full group wouldn't return for another hour and a half.
Barry's eyes narrowed.
"Perfect timing."
He followed the sound and spotted the men loading boxes into a van. When their backs were turned, he quietly slipped inside the back of the vehicle.
From the up above on the building, Steve crouched and watched.
"Barry… what are you doing?"
The smugglers finished loading and climbed into the van.
"We should head back before the others arrive," one of them said.
The van drove off.
Steve saw down some plastic drums and transformed them into LEGO blocks. With practiced ease, he shaped them into a reinforced cycle and began tailing the van.
After forty to fifty minutes, the van entered a hidden storage hideout. Barry slipped out quietly and tried to hide, but the smugglers noticed movement immediately.
"Hey! Who's there?!"
They spotted him instantly and grabbed him.
"What are you doing in our van?!"
Barry offered no resistance. They dragged him inside, shoved him onto a chair, and tied him up tightly with rope.
Steve watched from above, hidden behind the glass-paneled partition ceiling.
The smugglers stepped aside for a moment, whispering to each other in confusion.
"Why didn't he scream?"
"Why didn't he fight back?"
"Is he some kind of spy?"
Barry remained still, head lowered, listening.
Then—
A strange sensation hit him.
For a single heartbeat, his vision changed.
He saw the entire room differently.
The walls became transparent.
Blue streams of electricity glowed inside the wires like flowing rivers.
He saw the main circuit board of the hideout in the room next door.
Bright. Pulsing. Full of energy.
Then, just as suddenly, the world returned to normal.
Barry blinked.
Barry's thought,"So that's where the main circuit board is. I can use it to absorb more electricity."
The smugglers approached again.
"Why were you in our van?!"
"Are you a trainee hero?!"
"Talk, kid!"
Barry smiled slightly but stayed silent.
One smuggler grew angry.
"You think someone's gonna save you? No one's here but us! And if you stay quiet, we'll kill you and dump you somewhere no one ever finds you!"
Barry finally looked up.
"Kill me? Save me? Yeah… no. That's not happening."
He stood up.
The ropes snapped instantly.
The chair cracked apart beneath him.
Both smugglers stumbled backward in shock.
"Wh—What the?!"
"Some mutant with super strength?!"
Barry raised his hand toward the next room.
Electricity surged through the entire hideout and into his body. Every light went out. Blue arcs ran along his arms, his chest, his legs — energy overflowing from him.
The smugglers panicked and drew their guns.
BANG!
Barry vanished in a flash and smashed into a stack of crates. For a moment, everything felt slowed.
"What the heck was that…?"
BANG!
He disappeared again, he was back where he started.
Barry blinked.
Barry," What was that! I just tired to dodge. It felt like time was slow. Wait no it was me. I'm fast."
The smugglers fired again.
Barry closes his eyes and focuses. When he opened his eyes.
The bullets crawled through the air toward him, moving almost gently.
He stepped aside, letting them pass harmlessly. Then he zipped forward, grabbed the smugglers' guns, and returned to his original position.
Time snapped back to normal.
Both men froze in terror.
"What just happened?!"
"How did you get our guns!"
Barry grinned.
"Maybe, showing you might be easier."
He dashed forward, grabbed a rope from a crate, and tied both smugglers together in a blur.
"And that's how I did it. Wasn't it easy to do."
Barry tightened the knot, standing proudly over the captured criminals.
He said, " I'm just getting started."
Barry stood still, his mind racing.
Now what do I do? he thought. The other group will arrive soon.
High above, on the rooftop, Steve remained hidden, he was shocked to see what just he saw.
Steve thoughts," When did he got those powers. Is he is also someone who got kidnapped and experimented."
Barry thinks,"I need to do something that attracts attention here, Barry thought. After that, the rest will be handled by the heroes. But what exactly should I do?"
One of the smugglers grew impatient.
"Hey! Hey!" the first smuggler shouted. "Why are you just standing there? What are you thinking about?"
Barry turned his head slightly and looked at him.
"You…" Barry said calmly. "Can't you just stay quiet for once?"he said angrily.
He paused for a moment, then his expression shifted.
"Oh—wait," he added. "I have a nice idea."
In a blur of motion, Barry vanished from his spot. He searched the room at superhuman speed, scanning every corner. Less than a second later, he stopped, a small metal tape clenched in his hand.
Barry stepped back in front of the smugglers.
"Now," he said, "you won't be speaking."
Before they could react, he shoved the tape into both smugglers' mouths, silencing them instantly. Their eyes widened in shock as they struggled helplessly.
Barry turned away and began thinking again.
"When I was tied to that chair earlier, he thought, I suddenly activated a different kind of vision. How did I do that?"
He closed his eyes and focused.
Minutes passed—five of them—without movement. He concentrated solely on that strange sensation he had felt before.
Then, suddenly, something stirred behind his eyes.
A faint pressure. A sharp awareness.
Barry opened his eyes.
The world changed.
Thin streams of blue light flowed through the walls, pulsing gently inside hidden wires. Electricity revealed itself—alive, moving.
"Yes," Barry whispered. "Finally… I can see this way again."
He turned his gaze toward the smugglers.
"As I thought," Barry said quietly. "I can see the electrical flow of neurons in the human body too. The visibility is low, but it's there."
Their nervous systems flickered faintly beneath their skin.
Barry slowly scanned the room.
Then he looked upward.
His eyes narrowed.
Another electrical pattern appeared—distinct, human.
Someone was hiding above.
"It seems you have one more friend," Barry muttered. "Watching everything from up there."
He didn't act immediately. Instead, another thought struck him.
Cameras.
He hadn't checked for them earlier.
Focusing his enhanced vision, Barry searched carefully. Thin electric currents led him to several hidden cameras embedded in the walls.
He followed the flow until he located the control room where the footage was being monitored.
"I need to erase everything, Barry thought. Me coming here… everything I've done."
He moved quickly.
Within moments, Barry deleted all recorded footage of his arrival, actions inside the hideout and turned off the cameras. Once finished, he straightened himself and went back to the tided smugglers. Then he looked back toward the rooftop.
Now, only one problem remains.
Barry clenched his right hand, electricity flickering faintly around his fingers.
"Get ready," he said under his breath. "Third guy—I'm coming for you."