[i]"Yeah, I hope some heroes show up at the scene soon."[/i]

Mr. Springer's United States History II class was startled by the television suddenly shutting off. Mr. Springer, a balding, portly man in a sweat-stained suit, held the television remote, as well as an unpleasant expression. This little divergence had distracted the class for long enough, and he had a lesson to teach. The class moaned in disappointment, but gradually returned their attention to the lesson. The fact that all of their lives were in danger by the threat of the plant melting down did not seem to bother them; catastrophes such as these were a weekly occurrence, and if one stressed about them too much, they were likely to go as bald as Mr. Springer.

Casey Nakamura, however, was rather stressed. From his seat in the back of the class, he jittered nervously, tapping his pencil against his desk erratically. He needed to get to that plant as soon as he could, but he had to devise a convincing lie to get out of class, first. The more time he wasted arguing with his teacher, the more lives that were put at risk. Eventually he settled on an excuse, and his hand shot up.

Mr. Springer sighed deeply before calling on him, "Yes, Casey?"

"Uh, Mr. Springer, my stomach hurts, can I go to the nurse?"

"Again? Didn't you have this same problem last week?"

Casey inwardly cursed. He forgot that he kept reusing the same excuse. Lying really wasn't his strong suit. "Well, uh, I guess. Must be Taco Tuesday disagreeing with me."

Mr. Springer ignored Casey's flimsy explanation. "Casey, just because your mother is the school nurse, that doesn't give you an excuse to skip out on class whenever you please."

"Of course not sir, I just need to go lie down for a minute." Casey was getting impatient.

Another sigh and a lengthy stare later, Mr. Springer signed a hall pass, and Casey shot off down the hallway toward the nurse's office. After flinging the door open and skidding into the office, Casey found his mother, Kitty Nakamura, at her desk, typing an email to whomever. While surprised by the intrusion, she didn't seem that surprised to see her son. Casey assumed that she had already heard the news about the power plant. She quirked her head at him, a few locks of bright red hair falling loosed out of her messy bun.

"Got somewhere to be?" She asked casually.

"Yep, you know how it is." Casey replied, slightly out of breath.

"Alright, hon, I'll take care of everything over here. You go do your thing." Mrs. Nakamura said calmly, typing up a sick note for her son.

"Thanks, mom." He said, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.

Casey left the building through the door in his mother's office, and after ensuring the area around him was free of passerby, began his transformation. By harnessing the energy within him, and awakening the latent power in his body, Casey activated the Mark. His chest began to glow with brilliant radiance, which then overtook his entire body. Blinding light filled the area immediately around him, and as it subsided, it revealed Casey encased in brilliantly-shining armor. His hair had taken on a shimmering, golden streak, and his eyes glowed with overflowing radiance. He took off sprinting away from the school, and leaped into the air. Beneath him, his ether board materialized, and the helmet formed over his head to signify the completion of his transformation into Pollux. With that, Casey shot off in the direction of the power plant, leaving a streak of starlight in his wake.

---

Casey arrived in the middle of a battle, it seemed. He spotted Meltdown, surrounded by persons whose affiliation he couldn't place. Opposed to them were several heroes that Casey only vaguely recognized. As far as he could tell, that situation was under control, and he continued to fly into the power plant. The outermost areas were surprisingly clear of debris and survivors, and he assumed that he was not the first person to attempt a rescue. Deeper into the plant, Casey found more destruction, and summoned his sword to help him cut through debris. He was very careful to only cut anything that had already fallen out of place, as he didn't wish to damage the plant any further. His armor would protect him from low-level radiation, but anything more than that would still harm him.

Any survivors he found he piled under him, laying them on his ether board. Though he was slower as Pollux, his ether board could hold more weight than Casey could with only arms and wings, and he needed his hands free to clear away debris. As he plunged further into the plant, Casey caught glimpses of multicolored humanoids running about; he assumed this was the other rescuer.

Casey called out into the plant, hoping to rouse survivors, or anyone that needed his assistance. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm here to help!" His voice was somewhat modulated by his helmet, giving it a deeper, metallic resonance.