**Los Angeles - 4:47 PM**
*Six Hours After Hospital Incident*
The news broke like a fucking bomb across every platform simultaneously.
"BREAKING: LUTHER FAMILY'S 'CRIPPLE' AWAKENS - PLATINUM GRADE PLUS CONFIRMED"
Channel 7 had it first, their afternoon anchor practically creaming herself with excitement.
"In an unprecedented turn of events, seventeen-year-old Jayden Luther Cross—long considered the only 'null' in the prestigious Luther Cross dynasty—has manifested powers following a near-fatal racing accident. Initial readings suggest Platinum Grade or higher, making this the most dramatic late awakening in..."
But fuck Channel 7. The real action was online.
**@PowerWatch** tweeted the leaked hospital footage at 4:52 PM. Thirty seconds of grainy security cam showing a figure in a hospital gown literally becoming lightning, blowing out an entire floor's power grid before vanishing through a window. The clip went nuclear—2.3 million views in the first hour.
**@MetahumanDaily**: *HOLY SHIT. Boy really said fuck your expectations 💀⚡*
**@LegacyFamilyTea**: *From cripple to god tier? The Luther Cross PR team working overtime rn*
**@apex_stan_42**: *No way that's real. Probably CGI marketing for something*
But the nurse—fucking Miranda, who'd been on shift when Jayden woke up—she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Posted a TikTok from her car, mascara running, hands still shaking.
"I'm telling you, that boy's readings were insane. The machines couldn't even—they just kept erroring out. I've seen Platinum Grades before. This wasn't that. This was..." She paused, looking directly at the camera. "Y'all ever heard of Apex Grade? Because I think we just saw one wake up."
The video hit 5 million before her hospital's legal team got it yanked. Too late. The internet never forgets.
Dr. Chen, meanwhile, maintained professional silence. Smart man. The Luther Cross family's checks cleared too well for him to start running his mouth. But his silence spoke volumes—if Jayden had been merely Platinum, Chen would've been on every medical journal's interview list by dinner.
The power level speculation spiraled into beautiful insanity. Forums lit up with frame-by-frame analysis of the hospital footage. Energy signature experts—both real and Reddit-certified—weighed in.
**PowerLevelScience** posted a detailed breakdown: *"Based on electromagnetic discharge patterns and structural damage, we're looking at minimum Level 80 output. But here's the thing—that's UNTRAINED. No control, no optimization. Raw power only. If this kid's really Apex Grade, he could hit 100+ within months."*
**ElectricBoogaloo69** responded: *"Lmao 100? You smoking Genesis crystals? Even Apex himself started at Level 20. Nobody jumps to 100 untrained."*
**SystemKnower**: *"Y'all forgetting he's a Luther Cross. Different rules when your bloodline's been cultivating power for 200 years. That whole family's minimum Level 120. The 'cripple' was probably just charging up."*
The betting sites crashed from traffic. DraftKings had to suspend their Superhuman Futures market after the odds went haywire:
- Jayden joins the Five: 15:1
- Jayden goes villain: 8:1
- Jayden burns out within a month: 3:1
- Jayden reaches Level 100+: 25:1
- Government containment: 2:1
Some sick fuck even started a death pool. The internet was the internet.
By 6 PM, three different talk shows had pivoted their entire evening schedule.
*Powers Tonight* assembled a panel of "experts"—a washed-up Level 60 hero, a Berkeley professor who studied awakening patterns, and somehow, inexplicably, a TikTok influencer who'd gone viral for rating superhero costumes.
"What we're witnessing," the professor explained, adjusting his glasses, "is potentially paradigm-shifting. Late awakenings typically manifest weaker—the Genesis Energy has less time to integrate. But if these readings are accurate—"
"Oh, they're accurate," the washed-up hero interrupted, bourbon heavy on his breath. "I felt that surge from Malibu. Kid lit up the whole grid. That's not Platinum. That's not even normal Apex Grade. That's something else."
The influencer just held up her phone. "Y'all, the Luther Cross Instagram just posted for the first time since their son awakening. It's a black square with lightning emoji. They're claiming him."
Cut to *The Evening Report* on CNN, where they'd somehow gotten Victoria Luther Cross on video call. Jayden's mother sat in perfect lighting, her photokinetic abilities making her glow like a benevolent goddess.
"We always believed in Jayden," she said, lying with the practice of seventeen years. "His late manifestation just proves what we knew—our son was meant for greatness. The Luther Cross family stands ready to support him in this transition."
The host, to his credit, pushed back. "But Mrs. Luther Cross, reports from family gatherings suggested Jayden was referred to as—"
"Childhood nicknames," Victoria cut him off, her glow intensifying dangerously. "You know how siblings can be. We're just grateful he survived the accident and look forward to helping him reach his full potential."
Twitter immediately exploded:
**@richkidsofinstagram**: *"Childhood nicknames" GIRL YOU CALLED HIM CRIPPLE AT CHRISTMAS*
**@PowerGossip**: *Not the Luther Cross family suddenly loving their son after 17 years 💀*
**@MarketWatch**: *$LTCR stock up 12% on news of awakening. Because of course it is.*
*
Meanwhile, somewhere in a destroyed warehouse, blue lightning crawled across scarred concrete as Jayden Luther Cross tried to take a single normal step. He had no idea that his seventeen years of being nobody had ended. That his medical readings were being dissected on Discord. That his mother was on CNN claiming she'd always loved him. That betting pools were calculating his life expectancy.
He was about to become the most famous teenager in America.
And he hadn't even figured out how to walk yet.