So here I sit, watching the world go by. Not in the colloquial sense either mind you, quite literal when you’re leaning against a piece of space junk in low earth orbit.

I had grown up normal, mostly at least. I enjoyed science and math more than others in my age group, particularly physics. I found it to be a fascinating field with so many things to learn and wonderful mysteries yet to be solved. It had the unfortunate but predictable result of leaving me left out of most social events, in ways only the cruelty of teenagers can devise.

Then on my 17th it happened, an awakening of power from somewhere. No one knows why or how, most heroes or villains have it run in the family, they are prepared for it. For me one day I was your average girl, and the next I had become possibly the most powerful person on the planet, and had no idea that I was or what to do.

It took some effort to learn how what I had worked, though thankfully I didn’t cause any incidents while learning to control it, but never seemed to be able to make it do much.

I moved away to college, electing a major in engineering physics, working toward a dream of helping make new discoveries…. until The Party happened.

It was a Halloween party, the year I was supposed to finish my undergraduate, my boyfriend at the time had gotten an invitation to a costume party, and so we had gone to have a little fun. It turned out to be a nightmare.

Everything started well enough, In typical nerdy fashion I had gone with an anime theme, and he had gone with a semi-matching cyberpunk-ish style costume. It was around midnight that everything went awful, apparently the host of the party had made some deals with a drug gang he couldn’t cash, and so some guys had been sent to teach him a lesson. Instead they found a party full of people, and intimidation became confrontation. One of them fired a shot after a struggle, and all hell broke loose. The last clear memory I have was seeing my boyfriend’s eyes wide open as he lay on the decking.

I was told later it looked like the assailants had been put in a car crusher, broken bones sticking out at odd angles, organs crushed to pulp. I don’t remember any of it. The next thing I remember was being on the other side of a table, being interrogated by heroes I had thought the world of. The more questions they asked, the more ‘tests’ they did, the more visibly scared they got. Eventually letting me go. That was a few hours ago.

My power in its purest form is quite simple, the ability to manipulate gravity. However that power when applied at the atomic and subatomic level can have many other interesting effects. Being able to alter elements into others by making them shed or gain protons, forming isotopes with great precision, halting or controlling electrical flows and chemical reactions. When you can fly, create seemingly impenetrable shields of force, or make a nuclear bomb from just about anything with the right amount of material, it really can be quite terrifying. But I emphasized I was no danger to them, or anyone else. That I simply wanted to help people.

It took maybe fifteen minutes for the first call to come through after I walked out, an unlisted number offering me things in exchange for my ‘help’. Another five minutes before I had figured out the caller wasn’t up to anything good. Another three more in quick succession, it seemed word got around fast that there was someone the league was afraid of. I wasn’t interested in any of it. I needed a place without cell reception to think.

So here I sit, watching the world turn, and trying to decide if I should try to help people, or just go back to being Kat.

But hey, Gravity always wins, Right?

(Something of a twist on a previous WP response, which could be the same or an AU thereof: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/xvm8rv/wp_there_is_one_ironclad_rule_in_the_world_if_you/ir51g1d/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3 )