No Ordinary Guy - An Origin Story

Chapter One - The Brooklyn Project

Brooklyn College, February 1993...

It began early in the month of February. Spring was on its way, though the brisk winter chill remained in the streets of Brooklyn. An old lady sat at a bench feeding a gathering of pigeons; a hot dog vendor loudly flogged his wares; and a haggard, balding teacher led a gaggle of students along the street. This group was the freshman Physics class of City College New York, on an outing to see the work of Dr. Philip Stein, a Professor of Brooklyn College. Stein had been making huge leaps in fusion technology, and most of the students were very excited to see his work. Among them was the brightest, most promising young physicist in school: Stacy Lane. Her fiery red hair made her stand out from the rest of the crowd, a beacon of radiance in a sea of drab and dirt.

Towards the back of the group was the hero of our tale: Guy Geller. He, unlike Stacy, was neither brilliant nor beautiful, instead he was scrawny and uninteresting. Like Stacy, he was a nerd, though this does not imply that he was a smart kid. Quite the opposite. Guy was a science fiction nerd, and his understanding of real world physics paled in comparison to his extensive knowledge of the mechanics of the Star Wars universe. Why would one so incompetent at Physics even take such a class? Because like all nerds, Guy was hopelessly in love with a girl who was lightyears out of his league. Guy had been in love with Stacy since high school. She was the reason he chose to go to college, the reason he took a class he couldn't comprehend, and the reason he was in Brooklyn on that cold morning, on his way to see the work Professor Stein had accomplished in a field that Guy didn't know the first thing about.

Little did he know, the events that day would eventually define his life.

For better or worse.

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"Welcome students, welcome!" The Professor beamed, shoving his CCNY-counterpart to one side as he happily greeted his audience. As usual, Stacy was front and centre, the most eager and engaged of the bunch. Meanwhile Guy was standing to the left, watching his crush intently out of the corner of his eye. "This way, this way!" He lead the way through the compound to his laboratory, which was truly more of an empty warehouse than a lab.

"This is the product of my blood, sweat and tears!" Stein boomed, gesturing triumphantly to the machine which occupied most of the building. It consisted of a huge metal container with a variety of tubes, pistons and lots of other high-tech thingamabobs protruding from it. According to their own Physics lecturer, this machine was a prototype nuclear fusion reactor, an attempt to create an unlimited energy source with the power of the sun, contained within a space the size of a bungalow. "The concept is simple, though the actual mechanics would boggle the mind of students like you!" Philip chuckled, receiving some awkward, nervous giggles from the crowd in return. "It came to me in a dream..."

The Professor continued to ramble as Stacy wandered away from the group, examining the machine with a look of awe and wonder twinkling in her emerald eye as she leaned up against one of the safety rails preventing them from getting too close. Guy followed her gaze with a look of puzzlement as he also stepped away from the group, drawn by her intoxicating presence.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Stacy grinned, turning to face him, as Guy suddenly realised that the two of them were alone (though the rest of the group were only a few feet behind him). "A power plant that endlessly generates its own energy. Just imagine it, Guy! No more fossil fuels, no more pollution, just clear, unlimited energy!"

"Uh, yeah... p-p-pretty exciting." Guy stuttered. He always stuttered, but it was worse around Stacy. Not that she probably noticed. The two of them were occasional lab partners, but Guy rarely said a word to her. He found it far more enjoyable to simply listen, hanging on her every word. Stacy loved to talk, and he loved to listen. "S-seems like he's li-li-living your d-dream." He added with a nervous smile, knowing that this was the sort of work she wanted to pursue. "You c-can't sa-save the world if he d-d-does it f-first."

"Professor Stein is taking the first step," Stacy replied, making eye contact one again, "and I intend to take the second. This is the prototype, the basic building block. There's plenty of room for improvement and innovation." She flashed her perfect smile again. "Which is where I come in!" She looked away, staring at the machine in much the same way that Guy stared at her.

"I wish I c-could ch-ch-change the w-world." He muttered quietly, not really wanting to be heard.

"You will change the world, dummy!" She snapped her stern gaze back to the scrawny teenage boy, before launching into a speech he had heard many times before. "It's like my mom says, everyone excels at something, we all have different gifts. My gift is a thirst for knowledge and a brain the size of Alaska. Your gift... Well, I'm sure you'll figure out what it is eventually. The point is, we owe it to the world to use the gifts that we've been given. Everyone leaves a mark on the world, Geller, like it or not. All you can do is try and make sure that mark, isn't a scar."

"Behold!" The two students were interrupted as the machine before them began to whir into life. The Professor proclaimed, gesticulating wildly. "The future!"

"Hold on. No..." Stacy gasped as she stared intently at the mighty mechanism. "No, that's not right at all."

"Wh-what're you t-talking about?" Guy mumbled, having no clue what his far-more-intelligent counterpart was saying.

"Professor!" Stacy yelled, turning away from her companion. "Are you sure this is--"

A mighty BOOM cut her off, as a piston was sent hurtling across the room. The rest of the students screamed and began to scatter, their teacher leading the charge to the exit as tubes and wires were blasted off the machine, flames bursting from every orifice. Guy made to give chase, before noticing that he was not being followed. Turning around, he saw Stacy struggling frantically to get free, entangled in her own bag strap as he satchel was jammed tight in the safety bar. The warehouse was empty now, save for three people: Professor Stein, running in circles trying to fix the machine while muttering frantically about the impossibility of his invention's failure; Stacy, fighting for her life against the ironically named safety bar; and Guy.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" Stacy shouted, though each attempt to get free only worsened her situation. The machine was starting to groan now, as the metal shell which contained the fusion reaction began to burst at the seams. The crimson-haired beauty had no chance of making it out in time. But she had to live, he decided. He was useless and she was brilliant and she had to live, no matter the cost. Making a split-second decision, Guy ran towards his love. "No, Guy! Get out of here!" He ran past Stacy, vaulting over the bar as he stood over the girl, his body a pathetic, skinny little human shield. "GUY!" Stacy screamed, as the walls finally burst, and the fusion energy erupted, engulfing the entire building. Guy Geller's life was over...

It was time for his new life to begin.

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Two weeks later...

"I'm serious. You're definitely taller."

"What, a guy can't have a growth spurt?"

"You're nineteen years old, puberty happened a long time ago. And this isn't just normal growth, we're talking about seven inches in fourteen days."

"Now you're just exaggerating." Guy grinned, looking down at Stacy. It was true, he had grown. Before the accident he had to look up at her, not down.

"It's unnatural. That explosion should have killed you, but what happened instead? You spent a week in hospital and by the time you were discharged your burns had healed completely; your eyes suddenly work perfectly; your asthma has completely gone; and you're a freaking giant!" Stacy waved her arms, clearly quite frustrated that she had no understanding of how any of this had happened. "You've even lost your stutter!"

"New York City, huh? Best medical care in the world..."

"Oh, shut up." The girl-genius smirked as she elbowed him in the ribs, quickly noticing how much more muscular he was now, too. "You wanna get something to eat?"

"Absolutely." Guy replied, steering them in the direction of his favourite chinese restaurant. He was stopped in his tracks, however, when he heard the sound of gunshots echo from around the corner. "On second thought, rain check? I gotta do a thing. See you at school!"

"Guy, what're you--? There's a gunfight over there, we need to-- Guy!" But Guy had already disappeared into a nearby alleyway. Tearing off his shirt, the miracle boy revealed the green undershirt beneath...

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Stacy made her way over to the commotion, where a gang of criminals had been caught robbing a jewellery store and were now engaged in a gunfight with the police. Civilians were being kept back a safe distance, but it seemed like the cops were being overwhelmed. Fortunately, help was on the way...

"Don't fear, citizens!" A voice echoed from the skies. "Your city is under my protection now!"

Falling down from the clouds, the thieves unloaded their weapons on him. The green giant stood still, allowing his body to soak up the bullets, which were completely ineffective. With great speed, he rushed at the villains, shattering each of their guns with a single punch, and knocking them out cold with another. Seizing the final criminal by the collar of his shirt, the hero lifted him off the ground with ease.

"My name is Giga-Guy. And you're going away for a long time."

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Twelve years later, February 2005

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

"Has the jury reached a decision?" The judge asked loudly, as a solemn hush fell over the courtroom.

"Yes... I mean, we have, your honour." The representative stood nervously, clearing his throat, wiping the sweat from his brow and avoiding eye contact with the accused at all costs. "After much discussion, having seen the evidence, we have decided... despite the defendant's spotless criminal record and stellar reputation... We have no choice, but to declare the defendant..." The man seemed to choke on his words, as he finally managed to cough out: "guilty."

"Very well." The judge nodded, raising his gavel. "Then it is with great sadness that I sentence you, Mr. Guy Geller, to twenty years in prison. Court dismissed."

BANG.

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End of chapter one.

Comments and critique would be appreciated.

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No Ordinary Guy - An Origin Story

• Chapter One - The Brooklyn Project: http://www.comicvine.com/profile/fuzionguy/blog/no-ordinary-guy-an-origin-story/92560/
• Chapter Two - Hopelessly Devoted: http://www.comicvine.com/profile/fuzionguy/blog/no-ordinary-guy-chapter-two/92639/
• Chapter Three - A Star is Born: http://www.comicvine.com/profile/fuzionguy/blog/no-ordinary-guy-chapter-three/92913/
• Chapter Four - For Better or Worse: http://www.comicvine.com/profile/blog/no-ordinary-guy-chapter-four/98258/
• Chapter Five - Eventual Horizon: http://www.comicvine.com/forums/rpg-9/no-ordinary-guy-the-final-chapter-1592048/

Hype!

"You will change the world, dummy!"

Woah. This was written amazingly. Well done. Possibly my fave origin I have read in a LONG time. Perfect. I can't even tell you how awesome it was lol I would try giving critique but I would only be lying, I'm too new to spot anything bad lol

@pyrogram: Pfft, of course it's awesome, you know how long I spent on this? xP

Thanks for reading, I know it's long, but hey, pictures! :D

@_eclipse_: I don't wana read the Stacy thing you told me about :'(

@pyrogram: Now now, don't spoil anything ;)

I know you kinda know a lot of this story anyway, but I promise you there will be twists and turns in the following chapters. For instance, you don't know why he gets sent to jail :P

@fuzionguy:

I like the time skipping and complete change of pace and tone from the onset to the ending. It was unexpected and makes one wonder what happened between 93-05 that lead to the imprisonment.

From silver age vibe to modern gritty vibe in one post.

You left a lot of open plot points to let people mull over as well a a plethora of directions you can go with, solid work.

@_eclipse_: I know I know but :/

I assumed why! 'Cos of you know why about stuff <_< Buuutt huh! Cool O_O

For an origin story shoot makes me excited for chapter 2 lol ! I liked it man.

@pyrogram: If you're talking about what I THINK you're talking about... people don't get 20 years in prison for that xP

PM?

@armistice: EVERYTHING YOU SAID WAS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO DO! ^___^

YAYYYY! Seems I'm better at this writing lark than I thought... Though I kinda feel like the description was lacking from around the middle up to the tone-shift. Ah well, gotta leave room for improvement. Thank you for reading!

@pro_nelson: I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

@_eclipse_: I don't know I don't do that! xD I won't speak anymore. Fraid of spoilers. lol

@_eclipse_:

I felt like the beginning was a 60's comic, the middle was an 80's comic, and the end was a 00's comic style.

It was a long post so rushing and skimping on the middle was expected based on the meat being at the ends, a minor issue IMO.

@_eclipse_: That was everything I had expected/wanted it to be and more out of a Chapter one amazing job! <.< Thats all I got can't critique brilliance :)

@armistice: Yup, pretty much what I was going for :) it was important to me that the character's origin was as cliche as possible (though hopefully the beginning was interesting despite that cliche) so I was definitely going for an old-school Marvel vibe there. The explosion image is actually an edited Hulk panel, lol

Looking forward to where this character goes when I start actually RPing with him, got some pretty exciting plans

@_eclipse_:

The Vine tends to lean heavily towards modern comics and media for character inspiration, going old school is actually avoiding being cliche depending on how you look at it.

That and you can use multiple styles for the same character depending on what part of the timeline you want to explore. If you get bored of one you can always just switch it up for a while.

@armistice: That's a fair point, hadn't thought about it like that, thanks :)

Definitely. I think what's been bugging me about writing Eclipse so far in the nU is he doesn't really have any history to explore/flashback to. Whereas this guy? He has 20 (well, technically 12) years of superheroing under his belt before I even start. Makes things very interesting for me. I've also hopefully got a fantastic writer/friend who is willing to play a character with close ties to Guy. If they have time, lol

@614azrael: You were a big help, without you I wouldn't have even had the character idea to begin with :)

Very similar to what I have done with Armistice, he has been around the CVnU for many years but almost no one knows about him. I have actually used him very little in the modern CVnU while instead exploring flashback RPGs set in the past to flesh him out and his mentor relationship with Ellie Knightfall (Mercy).

The ability to go back and forth between the modern stuff that is forced to be tied to everything else and the flashback stuff that allows you a lot more freedom is a very nice option from experience. I think you will find the dynamic and flexibility to your advantage.

BRAVOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

@_eclipse_: *steels all the credit >:)*

Kidding of course almost all of it was you I just pitched a series of questions. Lol was happy to help though ^_^

I wouldn't of said it so on point haha

but this, I'm a big fan of tiem jumps and try and use them whenever they can fit

Plus your writing style comes off real professional, not sure who you are but it's a good read

you know me, my vocab is just too fab :)

@armistice: And it rhymes from time to time

@surkit:

only when Azzy thinks she can out-rap battle the Vine's White Chocolate.

@armistice: Your new name is

Vanilla water

my words just flow and my ideas are extra tasty

@armistice: oh sh!t you got it.

Thanks very much! :)

I'm an old RPer making a comeback, lol, used to be a 'big deal' back in 2010/11 (Hero of the Year, co-leader of the COPs, Hall of Fame Class 5) but now no-one knows who I am... Fame is a fickle friend xP

lol too true

Very nice man, solid work its good to see more of your stuff as always.

Dis is faine gurl.

I'm currently working on the fourth chapter for this (almost a year later... >_>) so I thought I'd bump this in order to let people know, and to give people a chance to read the first three chapters before the next one drops, if they are so inclined.

@fuzionguy: You don't know how glad I am you're finishing this :P

@myrmidon_: Don't get your hopes up, spent most of today staring at a blank page. Still haven't actually gotten any words down yet... >_> but it's starting to take shape in my head, so that's good.

@fuzionguy: I'll get you killed if it aint made man.

@myrmidon_:

@fuzionguy: One year!

@myrmidon_: Fair point, lol, I'm 500 words in now and pretty happy with what I've got. More importantly I'm starting to get a feel for the characters again.

Nice stuff , I really enjoyed it.

@shadowswordmaster: Thanks, glad you liked it :) oh, but if you decide to read chapters 2 and 3 there's no need to comment on them, I don't want to flood the front page with these things, haha

@fuzionguy: Good to know and keep up the good work.

@fuzionguy: Nice! Re-read this (again) and the dialogue is so natural it's really really fun.