The tube hissed open, and Jordan stumbled out, clutching his chest. His whole body tingled, an electric current buzzing under his skin. His breathing was ragged.

“W-What the hell have you done to me?!” he roared.

Purple lightning exploded from his hands without warning, blasting a stack of metal crates into the wall with a deafening crash. Sparks hissed across the floor.

His father took a slow step forward, guilt heavy in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Jordan. But the experiment was necessary.”

“Necessary?!” Jordan’s voice cracked with disbelief. “You locked me in there like some—some lab rat!”

His father’s gaze hardened, as if forcing himself to get the words out. “I used to work for a man… a very dangerous man. He called himself X.”

Jordan froze. He didn’t know the name, but something in the way his father said it made his stomach twist.

“He was… the one behind so many of the things I once thought were for the good of the world,” his father continued. “He even hired the man who gave Atomic Man his powers. But I discovered the truth — X only wanted power, no matter who he destroyed to get it. I walked away… but I knew he wouldn’t stop hunting me.”

Jordan’s fists clenched. “So your answer was to trap me in a tube and fry me with lightning?!”

“I gave you the power to fight him,” his father said, almost pleading. “That chamber had enough energy for only one person. Now, when he finds us — and he will — you’ll have a chance to survive.”

Jordan stared at him, the purple sparks still flickering faintly between his fingers.

“Us?” Jordan said slowly. “You said you two need to run. Who’s the other person?”

From the shadows of the lab, a voice answered. “Me.”

Jordan turned sharply. A girl stepped forward, about his age, maybe a little younger. She had sharp eyes and an air of someone who had been through more than most adults.

“This is Savaana,” his father said quickly. “She’s… also an experiment. My last attempt to undo what I once helped create. She has abilities you’ll need. Take her, Jordan — and run.”

Before Jordan could process the words, the lab’s heavy steel doors slammed open. Soldiers in black armor poured in, weapons raised. Their visors reflected the flashing red alarms now spinning above them.

“They’ve found us!” his father shouted.

Gunfire erupted, echoing like thunder in the metal chamber. Sparks rained from the walls as bullets tore through equipment. Jordan felt a strange instinct rising — a surge of power humming in his veins, begging to be unleashed.

His father’s voice cut through the chaos. “GO! Now!”

He moved toward the controls, fingers flying across them, sealing the inner doors. “I’ll hold them off as long as I can. Don’t look back!”

Jordan took a half-step toward him. “I’m not leaving you!”

“Yes, you are!”

Before Jordan could argue again, Savaana grabbed his arm. Her hand was warm — and then the world around him blurred.

In an instant, the gunfire, alarms, and his father’s shouting vanished. The floor beneath him was gone, replaced by cold night air. His vision swirled until, with a snap, it cleared.

They were standing on the rooftop of an abandoned building miles away.

Jordan’s knees buckled as he tried to catch his breath.

Savaana looked at him calmly, though her breathing was just as heavy. “We can’t go back,” she said softly.

Jordan clenched his fists, feeling the electricity dance between his fingers again. Somewhere out there, his father was facing those soldiers alone.

And now… he was on the run.