"Agent Johnson. You have failed the mission." There was a click signifying the call ended. I turned and started to walk out when the phone rang again.

"Hello?" I waited, but only silence befell my ears, at first.

"Agent Johnson..." The voice was eerie. Ghastly and sent shivers down my spine. "It's time to come home!" I slammed the phone on the holder and tried to exit the booth, but the door was locked.

The phone booth began to shrink on me, getting smaller by the second. My claustrophobia started to settle in, "No, I don't want to die!"

I gasped, shooting upright in my bed. I looked over at my sleeping wife. I was shaking uncontrollably.

Suzanne rolled over, stirring from her sleep as she curled into me. "Phone booth nightmare again, honey?" she placed her left hand in my right.

"Yeah... I... I don't know what it means." I wiped the sweat from my brow.

"Maybe you shouldn't drink so much alcohol before bed, dear." She handed me a cup of water.

I took a few swigs of water, setting the cup down beside me. "Maybe you're right... I should start attending the AA meetings again..."

"Next!" roared Phineus over the large crowd of healers past immigrating to the various schools of necromancy. "Name?"

"Sylvia Silverhand, at your service!" The entire crowd went silent and turned to face.

The crowd started to murmur at first, then started to step away from Sylvia.

"No way! It can't be her! I thought she died!" One crowd member looked over in awe and horror

"I heard she slaughtered everyone in her party, only to bring them back to do her mindless bidding!" Another crowd goer screamed and turned around to run away, but froze in his tracks, aging rapidly into dust before everyone's eyes.

"Enough, cowards." Sylvia snapped her fingers as the patron slowly rematerialized, alive where he stood previously. "I'm here to teach the rest of you scrubs what you can do with necromancy AND healing magic."

The crowd grew quieter as Sylvia walked through the school's main gates to the headmistress' office.

"Hm... Jim, this is the fifth superhero this week. Something isn't adding up. Mr. Invincible was supposed to be... Invincible." I thumbed through the x-rays and CT scans the doctor handed to me. Four shattered ribs, fragments scattered across their organs, like broke glass covering grass. The entire spinal column was fractured from top to tailbone, no telling how long that'd taken to heal.

"I don't think he will make it, Phil. What should we do?" Jim took a swig of his frappuccino, sighing contentedly with how cold New York winters are.

"What we do best: Privately investigate and drill into the situation to find the culprit!" I chugged my sixth coffee of the morning.

We both exited the hospital and hopped on our bicycles, making our way downtown, riding fast.

"Phil, you hear about that new supervillainess... What's her name..." Phil and I were casually peddling at this point as we burned through our energy.

"Uh... Impact, I've heard rumors about her, but, that's all they are. No solid information on her, yet. At least, none that I've heard. You have anything?" I looked over at Phil.

"Nothing solid. Rumor has it her ability works like this: She has to say her name first, then designates a material, item, etc. for it to act as the specified thing. So, for example, if she says 'Impact: Wrecking ball. Well guess what pal, it doesn't matter if she pokes you with her pinky, you're getting hit with the full force as if it was a wrecking ball in motion. Good luck surviving that!" Phil motioned with his hands, using just his weight to stabilize his bike. I could never do that, tried, but always lost my balance and fell.

"Shit... That's terrifying, especially if it is true. So, say, for example, a speeding car is barreling toward her and she does her thing, will she be hurt if she chooses a material that isn't strong enough to withstand the collision?" We came to a stop at a four-way intersection. I sipped the last of my coffee.

Phil shrugged, "F if I know pal. I just hope we never run into her. If she is the assailant, which we have no evidence of, and we've seen what happens to people who encounter her, we're beyond toast as we aren't supers."

I nodded. "Yeah, come on. Let's head to the docks. That's where Invincible and the culprit were last seen."

I wake up, gasping for air. It's too dark to tell where I am. "Hello? Is anyone there?" I feel hot and cold at the same time. Sweat was drenching my gown. "Where am I? Who am I?"

"Settle down, Atom..." A cool, feminine voice rang from a distance. "You... You don't remember who you are?"

"I... No..." My chest heaved, shaking with every breath, teeth chattering. "Where am I, what happened to me? Who is Atom?!" Panic began to settle in me.

"I'm sorry... I'm not allowed to say where we are, Atom. As to what happened... Project ATOM was a success, however, you're body is permanently unstable. That pain you're feeling. It'll last the rest of your life."

"N... No... Make it stop! End me!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, my heart rate accelerating faster than I could think. To say my body was on fire was a huge understatement.

"Atom, calm down if you don't..." The scientist stared with dread. "... Nevermind that... Just... Try to calm your mind. Think of a safe place you can retreat to." The scientist stepped closer.

"What... How?! The only safe place I had..." I blinked. Was my skin glowing before? "Why am I glowing?"

"Atom... Safe space. What is a safe memory that you carry?" The scientist continued with her gentle approach, hands raised to show she means no harm.

I was breathing heavily, trying to push the pain back. "Safe place... Safe place... Safe place..." I smiled, Sally's tail wagging as she chased the frisbee. Such a good German Shepherd. I continued to draw on that memory. "Warm, fresh air. The smell of the sea. Sand between my toes. A beautiful sunset..." I'd begun to fall into the memory as if I was there.

I felt the energy begin to dwindle within me as my body began to cool. I could still feel the stinging pain, but less, for now.

"Atom... are you alright?" The scientist stepped closer.

"Yes... I think so... What the hell is going on with me? What did you people do to me?" I slowly sat up, feeling my joins pop and my muscles loosen.

"Put on the clothes beside your bed. Let's go for a walk, Atom..."

"Then what cool abilities do I have?" Jason sat on the couch, sighing with disappointment.

"Well... Nothing in particular... But, sweetie, you'll never fall ill with human disease! That's why you've never been sick a day in your life! You're also the smartest being on the planet... Because nanobots and being connected to the web at all times... So there's at least that." His mom finished speaking. "Though, if an EMP were to hit, you would suffer from those. Temporary shut down and you would be vulnerable then."

"Such a drag. I guess it's cool to never have to worry about falling prey to disease, famine, or human death. I may be able to do something about the aforementioned EMP issue, though" Jason smiled, standing up and heading for the door.

"Wait, Jason. You do have one ability-ish. Being able to mimic the appearance of any living being, down to its DNA and RNA." Mr. Quinton had folded his newspaper in half to look up at his son.

"Thanks, dad. That'll be important for my upcoming plans." Jason smirked, placing his right hand on the doorknob.

Mrs. Quinton giggled after taking a sip of whisky. "And what plans are those, son?"

"World domination and the eradication of the human race."

There was an awkward silence between the three of them.

Mr. Quinton was the first to laugh, followed by Jason and Mrs. Quinton.

"Have a good day, son!" His parents said in unison.

Jason closed the door behind him, taking in everything around him. "Fools..."

It's more a discussion that might be useful for inspiration. Has some good ideas if you want to write that genre of book.

https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/ycn6pv/divisive_question_incoming/itot33w?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3