[center][img]https://i.ibb.co/FnTdfhk/Kane.jpg[/img]
[color=8b0000][b]Lafayette Financial Tower - Lobby[/b][/color][/center]

	"[color=7adc6f]If I let go of it I don't know how long it will last, but you can throw it harder than I can.[/color]" As the freckled woman offered up the ethereal spear, Kane's brow lowered, determination creeping up upon his face.  He grabbed hold and shifted his gaze over to the infamous Thundercloud.  The loosely bound team was losing.  Some were fleeing, others were panicking.  Any possibility of victory was quickly dissipating. They were going to lose. 

	[color=899499][i]Can't give up now[/i][/color], Kane thought, fighting passed his own doubt.

	Teeth clenched, lips curled, Kane took a leading step and heaved the spear with all of his might just as the villain had launched his frontal electric assault.  The spear cleaved through the arcs of lightning as it soared towards its target.

	That's when the already chaotically lit room got even brighter.  It seemed Mother Nature, herself, wanted in on this skirmish.  A bolt from the heavens came down from behind the motley crew.  Kane never even saw it when it hit.  He didn't even feel it when it made contact with his vest.  He hardly believed it when he looked down to witness his feet no longer touching the floor.  The sight of the lobby wall became bigger and closer in what felt like slow motion, but was truly a fraction of a second.

	As Kane collided with the wall, the natural lightning bolt tethered to his vest, the raindrops upon his clothes and skin began to erupt in vaporous explosions.  His shirt almost instantly disintegrated into shreds.  The vest was quick to fall off as the fabrics melted away.  Kane's exposed skin was completely singed.  You could see patches of raw, bloody musculature across his back.

	The natural lightning retreated as quickly as it came, leaving Kane in a steaming, crumpled mess on the ground.  An odor of burnt flesh permeated the air as a grotesque croaking moan escaped Kane's mouth.  He couldn't move... couldn't even [i]feel[/i].  All he could do was lay there helpless and confused.  Nevertheless, he was conscious, his eyes open conveying a trapped sense of utter horror.

	[color=899499][i]Why[/i][/color], he asked himself, tears welling up in his eyes.  [color=899499][i]Why did I even bother?  How was any of this worth it?[/i][/color] He could feel the sting of sorrow as his scleras became pink.  He traded his life to live out a childhood fantasy for a single evening.  A collage of fading faces began to swim in his mind.  His mother, his father, his sister, his friends... He wouldn't even get to say goodbye.  He wouldn't get to apologize for acting so rash.  Why did he do this?  What was it all for?

	Slowly he closed his eyes, the built up tears finally falling.  He stopped moaning and simply exhaled.  His once tense body eased into limpness.  And then... utter stillness.

[center][b][color=8b0000]****[/color][/b][/center]

	"[color=899499]It's too hard![/color]" Spencer shouted with frustration as he swung the baseball bat into the ground in a temper tantrum.

	"[color=fff79a]Spence, it's not supposed to be easy![/color]" his father scolded from the pitcher's mound.  "[color=fff79a]If everyone could do everything with ease, there'd be no such thing as 'special'.  You, kid- you have what it takes to be special, but you can't give up just because something isn't easy.  You've got to work at it, practice.  You're going to fail now and again, but you've got to keep trying, you hear me?[/color]"

	Spencer grimaced as he stood at home plate in his little league uniform.  With a huff, he adjusted his baseball helmet and pulled the bat back up to his shoulder before getting in his ready stance.  His father gave a solemn nod of approval before he started to wind up the ball.

	And then, he threw it.  It was fast.  Spencer made the mistake of swinging too early before.  That was not a mistake he planned on repeating.  In his mind, he noted when he [i]felt [/i]like he should swing and then gave it another mental beat before finally pulling the trigger.  The crack of the collision set off endorphins in Spencer's entire body.  His father's eyes went wide as he watch the baseball take off skyward, arching well passed the back fences.  He turned around and looked at his son with a sense of pride and glee.

	[color=fff79a]"A home run?! Are you kidding me!  And here you were ready to quit, boy![/color]" Spencer's beaming grin went from ear to ear as his dad approached him and knelt.  "[color=fff79a]You see, that's what I'm talking about.  You can't just quit when things get hard.  You've got to rise above it.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.  When you fall down...[/color]"

[center][b][color=8b0000]****[/color][/b][/center]

	[i][color=899499]You get your ass back up.[/color][/i]

	Kane's eyes flew open.  His irises were gone.  In their place was a spiraling kaleidoscope of iridescent color shining out.  Even the steam around Kane's body began to reflect and illuminate an almost living palette of every hue imaginable.  Humid particles in the air refracted light from a source unseen and shined out as if he was in a spacious cloud of glitter.  His entire aura was composed of a twisting, swirling, shimmering rainbow.

	A thud echoed through the lobby as Kane's right fist punched the floor, soon followed by his left.  In a bare knuckle pushup, he elevated his body to his knees.  He still couldn't feel his injuries, yet.  His nervous system was in absolute shock.  Slowly, he pulled one foot out from under him and soon the other until he was finally standing upright, facing the wall into which he had recently crashed.  He looked over his shoulder before pivoting his entire body, his complete focus directed at Thundercloud.  His naked torso was bloody, parts of his pants in burnt tatters and portions of his shoes had melted and malformed.  But he was up.  For now, that's all that mattered.

	His hands trembled uncontrollably as they awkwardly closed into fists.  He raised each of them up towards his chin like a boxer who had just entered the ring.  His thumb flicked his nose and Kane bellowed out, "[color=ed1c24]Alri[/color][color=f26522]ght. No[/color] [color=f7941d]more fu[/color][color=fff200]cking a[/color][color=8dc73f]round.[/color]"  As his fists squeezed, they seemed to glow even brighter with that constantly changing spectrum of colors.  "[color=00aeef]Let[/color][color=92278f]'s ge[/color][color=ed145b]t sp[/color][color=ed1c24]ark[/color][color=f26522]ly.[/color]"