Megamatrix Hero Within Read Online Free Page A

these and attach it to your chest," Android 7 instructed.
    Fletcher picked up the one of the devices to get a better look. It was round and about the size of hockey puck, flat on one side and rounded on the other. He lifted his shirt and pressed the flat side against his skin.
    Android 7, "This pain will be momentary."
    "What pai--?" said Fletcher as his words were cut off by the sound of his own screaming.
    Searing pain shot through him, dropping him to the floor. He clawed at the device in a desperate attempt to remove it, but with no luck. It felt like a mole was trying to burrow its way through his heart. A mole with a million razor-sharp teeth.
    "Dr. Slater suggested the installation process might be painful. His hypothesis appears correct.," Android 7 observed.
    Though it felt like hours, ten seconds later, the device was firmly attached to Fletcher's sternum. He managed to get back on his feet and pointed an accusing finger at Android 7. "Next time, you should warn people about that."
    "I did," Android 7 said unapologetically. "You may now choose which of the powers you want to download from the Megamatrix."
    Another hologram appeared beside Android 7. A man in a orange suit holding a bow with a quiver of arrows on his back stared blankly ahead, as though he was having his driver's license photo taken.
    "Archer," Android 7 said. "The legendary marksman who wielded the enchanted Bow of Merlin."
    The hologram changed to a woman in a star-spangled and red-striped outfit carrying a torch.
    "Liberty Torch, a classic symbol of American patriotism and bearer of the magical Liberty Torch capable of bringing her very thoughts to flaming reality."
    The holograms continued along with Android 7's narration. Max Molecule could grow to the size of a giant or shrink to the size of an ant. Red Wraith was a master of stealth and invisibility. Ali Babba could see any place he had ever been and could teleport across a thousand leagues with his Omnipresent Belt. Lord Trident held dominion over the seas.
    And then there was Korgus.
    Fletcher remembered his mother talking about Korgus. Android 7 called him an "otherworldly berserker," but Fletcher's mom called him a monster. She'd been terrified of the behemoth who seemed as likely to crush someone as save her from a burning building. In the hologram, he gripped a huge iron ball at the end of a long chain that wrapped around his forearm.
    Fletcher imagined facing the bum in the alley and his rusty knife, only instead of turning to run, he swung a five-hundred pound iron ball and chain as easily as he would a yo-yo. He imagined what it would have been like that afternoon to not have to duck into the restaurant, but to catch that falling car and throw it back. He imagined how things would be different if he hadn't needed to hide in Miguel's basement and could have been home with his mother when the bus--
    He pressed the download button. A jolt of energy surged through his chest. It felt like the device was a funnel and someone was pouring lava into him. The heat and electricity of it all tore through his bloodstream, affecting every molecule of his body. After it ended, he felt weak... but stronger.
    Fletcher took a deep breath and felt better with every passing second. Eager to see the results, he stomped over to a pile of rocks that remained from the original hidden passageway to the cave that Android 7 had destroyed so many years earlier. He picked up a rock and squeezed it in his bare hand.
    It crumbled to dust.
    He thought about the ball and chain from the hologram, but before he could ask Android 7 where to find it, it appeared in his right hand, crackling with an energy he'd never seen on earth. He swung it around like a pocket watch and smiled. The ball must have weighed as much as a refrigerator and each link of the chair was larger than a man's foot, yet he easily controlled it.
    "Oh, I'm going to have fun with this," Fletcher said to himself.
    "And so the new Korgus is born,"