In Comic Books, motivation comes from loss.

James woke up right as his alarm sounded letting him know it was time for work. As he sat up in bed he noticed that his new body was as hard as a rock. He still couldn't believe that he turned into an athlete after just one night of heavy work at the gym. As he made his way into the bathroom it dawned on him that he would be nearly unrecognizable to his coworkers now. He started to panic his thoughts raced until his phone rang. He ran over and picked it up looking at the screen. His manager was calling so he picked it, "Hello, this is James."

"Hey, Jimmy, I have bad news kid, last night someone burned down the restaurant so we are closed for at least a month if the owners decide to reopen. So I am afraid I have to let you go. You can pick up your last check over at corporate HQ which is at the downtown plaza. Sorry kid, it was nice working with ya." His manager Ralphie half mumbled and cried as he gave the bad news.

"Ah, I see, thank you, sir, it was nice working with you as well." Jimmy woodenly replied. he hung up the phone and thought, 'This is bad. I have no car and no job.' He started to pull one of his shirts over his chest only to have it rip at the seems. He frowned and tossed it aside before finding a blue "I heart Comics" T-shirt, the largest that he owned and pulled that over his. Thankfully it mostly fit him, even though it was incredibly tight. He grabbed some black sweat pants that clung tightly to his new powerful legs as well. He looked in the mirror and shook his head thinking, 'No car, no job, and no clothes. Can things get any worse?"

An incredible sense of danger started to send an adrenaline boost through his body he didn't know why but he was compelled to get out of his apartment. He rushed for the door just as something exploded in the apartment underneath of his. The floor collapsed and the fire roared up into his apartment just as he jumped through the doorway. He watched as his comic book collection slid into the inferno. He clung to the railing along the stairwell dangling by one arm he watched as the building slowly started to collapse, he let go of the rail and fell twelve feet to the ground below. Thankfully his new body was able to shrug off the quick pounding pain from the drop and he was able to run clear of the ruined structure. He stood and looked at the fire. His whole body felt numb as he watched the fire roaring through his upstairs apartment taking his years of collecting along with it. His cheeks felt wet as the tears started to come. He felt like everything was over. All of the finds he had made, all of the issues he meticulously searched out from sales and comic book conventions were lost forever in the blaze. He had insured his collection but what good was money, how could money bring back all of the hours of work he had put into that collection.

The fire department quickly arrived, but it was already too late. A short time later a policeman came up to him and asked what happened. He started to talk about the explosion and the police officer nodded and said, "Everyone else heard the explosion too, which apartment were you in?"

James wiped his eyes and then pointed to the ruined apartment above the epicenter of the explosion. He said, "Everything was fine, then I just felt like I had to get out of my apartment then boom, the floor caved in and fire climbed up the walls like it was alive eating my entire collection. All I could do was jump off the balcony to get away."

The policeman nodded and then asked a strange question, "Did you see a man in a purple suit with horns on it running from the scene?"

James looked at him strangely and then asked, "No, should I have?"

The policeman shrugged and then said, "Some of your neighbors mentioned a man about your size wearing a purple suit fleeing the scene. They said he was laughing and claiming he was going to destroy the world. We have reports of a similar looking man committing crimes all over the city today. Can anyone vouch for your whereabouts last night?"

James turned and looked at the gym across the street, "I was working out until six A.M. at the gym there. I should be on the cameras." He half mumbled.

The policeman looked at him again and then asked, "hey buddy are you ok, you don't look so good?"

James looked at the officer and then tears started down his cheeks, "My entire collection was in there. I had years worth of comic finds. All my number ones, all my first appearances, my signed prints. It's all gone. That was twenty years of collecting. It's all gone."

The policeman gave him a pat on the arm and said, "Sorry kid, I have a collection myself. I understand what it means."

James asked him, "Comics?"

The policeman shook his head and said, "Baseball cards."

The two men looked at the fire together, one collector to another. James asked, "Why would anyone blow up this apartment building? We're all poor here."

The policeman looked around and then said softly, "Kid, some people just have an evil side to them, you can't reason with them, you can only try to stop them before they do too much harm." He slapped James on the back and said, "The Red Cross will be here soon if you don't have a place to stay they'll take care of you."

As the policeman walked away James stared at his back, the words reverberating through his consciousness, "...some people just have an evil side to them, you can't reason with them, you can only try to stop them before they do too much harm." He looked up into the sky and said, "Is that what you want from me? You took what I loved most to give me the motivation to be a fucking hero? Well, fuck you! I am not a hero, I'm a comic book collector!"

A short while later James was given a room at a local seedy motel, some clothing, and phone numbers for charity organizations that might be willing to help. James was walking to the motel which was three blocks away carrying an old suitcase with the donated clothes in it when he saw a flyer on a telephone pole. He walked over and pulled one of the numbers off as he read it, 'See the numbers? Call us, we can help you become someone better than you are.' James hesitated and then dialed the number. It clicked a few times and then a woman with a smokey sultry voice answered, "Thank you for calling, I just have one question for you, what do you see in the corner of your eye?"

James thought for a moment and then said, "Plus one. In red."

The woman on the other end of the phone chuckled and then said, "Stay right there a car will pick you up in two minutes."

James started to get slightly anxious, "Just who are you?"

She chuckled and then said, "Me? Not nearly as important as you Mr. Crosby. You are someone who will become a hero. Or a villain. I just hope that you will give us the chance to make a case for the hero."

A fancy black car pulled up to the curb and the driver stepped out and opened the back door and said, "This way sir."

James started to have a very bad feeling about it, but he had nothing left to lose and only something to gain from meeting the mysterious woman. He walked over and the driver took the suitcase from him and asked, "Anything in here you'll miss?" James shook his head. The driver tossed the suitcase away as if it were trash and then gently closed the door and stepped back into the driver seat. He chuckled and said, "Don't worry, you'll get real clothes. Your days of working at Burger Kang are over Mr. Crosby. You are big time now."

James started to sweat a bit he started looking at the car for ways to escape or defend himself if needed. The driver chuckled at him and asked, "Mr. Crosby, you know the number you see in the corner of your eye?" James nodded. The driver smiled and said, "The number is your personal growth." He turned the corner and then continued, "Most of the awakened have yellow numbers. Some of us have blue numbers. A tenth of us has purple numbers. One of us has red numbers, and she is the most powerful of us. So you see, you are someone that we are greatly interested in meeting with. Even if we don't convince you to join us, we're still ready to support you."

James frowned and then looked out the window and said, "Man, I am not a hero. I am just a guy who collects comic books and works at a fast food joint. What can I do?"

The driver laughed and said, "You know what I did before? I was an accountant. After the awakening, I realized everything in my life was getting too easy. That blue number kept annoying me and I slowly started to notice my body shaping up and my mind getting sharper. Everything I tried, I improved until I was an expert. I learned anything I wanted to learn. Languages, martial arts, physics, history, math. I thought I was the king of the world, and then I met a purple. Woo, they are amazing. A purple can do impossible things. Move shit with their minds, start fires with their minds, read your thoughts. Purples make us blues look like morons." He shook his head.

James took a breath and then asked, "What about reds?"

The driver turned and grinned at him and said, "You reds? You can do anything. The only limit is you."

James frowned and then asked, "Are there any red villains?"

The driver shrugged and said, "Maybe? When one appears, a lot of people are going to be hurt. A lot of comics will be destroyed."

James frowned hard and then asked, "Do you guys already know everything about me?"

The driver smiled and said, "She's red, my friend. Just like you. When you get to her level pulling someone's entire life from a phone call will be as easy as finding the answer with Giggle."

James blinked and then asked, "Giggle?"

The driver looked at him like he was stupid, "Yeah, you know Giggle. The search engine for the internet. Everyone knows Giggle man."

James sighed and then nodded, "Right, sorry, Giggle. I forgot. I just lost my home, my car and my job so I am a little out of it still."

The driver raised an eyebrow at him and then said, "We're here." He got out of the car and then opened the door for James, "Just take the elevator. It's a private elevator that stops where she wants it to stop."

James looked back at him and the driver gave him a thumbs up. James stepped into the elevator and the doors closed. A second later they opened again and James was looking at an enormous well-decorated apartment. He couldn't help feeling like the person who lived here had great taste. Even the decorations were things he would choose. The wall even had a mural done by his favorite comic book artist.

A beautiful woman wearing a smart business suit with a short skirt and tall heels walked into the room. Her heels clicked over the floor and she gave him a smile and said, "It was short notice, we didn't have time to find any comic books for you, you'll, of course, want to find the ones that have meaning to you."

James looked around and then asked, "You mean?"

She nodded, "This is for you. What we are asking from you in return is to train and become a hero."

James frowned and then asked, "What kind of hero?"

She walked over to the window and waved her hand transforming the glass into a wall of TVs showing different catastrophes all over the world. She said, "Some of these are natural disasters others are man-made disasters. What we do is find the ones made by men, find out if the men can be trained, and if they can't we eliminate them."

James frowned and then asked, "Government funded and owned?"

She shook her head and said, "The government has their own people that only worry about threats from abroad and for corporations like mine." She looked at him and then said, "I'm sure you have already figured out some of it. How long did you use the gym, an hour, two?"

He smirked and then said, "Ten hours. I was skinny. You already know all this, don't you? You read my mind."

She chuckled and then said, "Mhm, I did. Naughty boy." She waved her hand and the glass returned to normal. She walked near him and then said, "I know that under your selfish comic book loving exterior, you have a secret desire to be a hero. Well, congratulations. You are one. Just give me the chance to show you how great you can become." She held her hand out to shake.

James frowned and then asked, "Is this a job offer or something more?"

She laughed and said, "Neither, it's a chance. A chance for you to become what you have always dreamed of becoming and more."

James looked in her eye and then said, "Alright, I'll give it a try." He shook her hand only to have her send a jolt through his mind. The red numbers at the corner of his vision showed numbers he had never dreamed of seeing before. "+ 90,016" "+ 100,064" "+80,097" the numbers scrolled by at incredible speeds and then he collapsed on the floor. His vision blacked out and then he drifted into a deep sleep.

He heard her voice in his mind as he slept. She was teaching him about the world, about the reality he found himself submerged in. Her voice was at times soothing, at other times forceful. She showed him what the evil villains were capable of doing and what the good heroes were capable of doing. She showed him her failures and her successes. She let him see what the world had been like for her as she expanded her powers. He saw the mistakes she made and how she cut corners that he shouldn't with his own training. He wondered if she was holding things back from him as he watched and soon found himself invading her personal memories, her life as seen through her eyes. She found him and kicked him out as he was watching her have her first time. She admitted to him, "It's true, I used to be a frumpy looking girl. I changed how I looked after I got my powers."

He found that comforting somehow like he shouldn't be as intimidated by her looks. He started to realize what they meant by a red could do anything they wanted. She had the ability to alter the universe. It was limited for sure, they weren't gods, but it was incredibly powerful in the right or wrong hands. For some reason the policeman's voice entered his mind once again, "...some people just have an evil side to them, you can't reason with them, you can only try to stop them before they do too much harm." A hero. Yes, he was supposed to be a hero.