Blitz

Dante has a life changing event. - Writer's Cramp Entry.

Dante Reyes was your average 17 year old; quick with a joke, always running late for school, and constantly nagged to look after his 3 year old cousin, Mateo. He didn’t mind though. Mateo was a sweet kid, always dragging around his battered dinosaur sippy cup like it was made of gold.

It was a regular Saturday morning when everything changed.

Their aunt’s living room was a jungle of toddler toys and cereal crumbs. Dante was scrolling through videos on his phone, half watching Mateo wobble around in his footie pajamas. That’s when he noticed it; Mateo stumbling toward the wall, where his sippy cup was dangerously close to tipping over into an uncovered electrical outlet.

“No, no, no...Mateo, stop!” Dante shouted, lunging from the couch.

But it was too late.

The cup slipped. A splash of apple juice arced through the air, hitting the exposed socket with a hiss. Mateo reached out to touch it, eyes wide and unaware.

Without thinking, Dante tackled his cousin, yanking him away from the wall, but in the process, his hand caught the sparking outlet. A shock surged through him like a thousand firecrackers exploding beneath his skin. He screamed, the world twisting around him in flashes of blinding white.

Then...silence.

Beeping monitors. Bleached white walls. A slow, steady rhythm of life ticking back into his senses.

Dante opened his eyes.

“Dios mío! He’s awake!” his mother gasped, rushing to his side and gripping his hand. His dad was there too, standing tall but with red rimmed eyes.

“Hey, buddy,” his dad said, voice cracking. “You scared the hell out of us.”
Dante tried to speak, but his throat was dry. His body ached in strange places like his insides had been yanked apart and stitched back together with lightning.

His aunt Elena appeared at the door with tears in her eyes, Mateo clinging to her hip with his thumb in his mouth; holding the infamous dinosaur sippy cup.

“You saved my baby,” Elena whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. “You threw yourself into the outlet to save him. Gracias, Dante. Gracias.” She leaned in and kissed his forehead. “You’re a hero.”

Dante blinked, dazed. A hero? All he remembered was the flash, the pain, and Mateo’s scared little face.

A Week Later

Recovery was quick. Too quick.

He was out of the hospital in record time. No lasting damage. No burns. Just...strange feelings. When he walked through the house, everything seemed slower. The tick of the clock dragged. People’s words stretched just a fraction too long. And his reflexes; he caught a falling glass before it even hit the edge of the counter. He thought it was adrenaline at first.

But then came the moment.

He was alone in his room, listening to music, tossing a baseball in the air. It slipped. As it dropped, time seemed to pause. The ball hovered for a fraction of a second just long enough for him to think that’s weird before he caught it effortlessly.

That night, he tested it.

He ran across his backyard, and was on the other side before the motion sensor porch light even flickered on.

Time didn’t slow down.

He had sped up.

His heart raced like a hummingbird’s, and when he focused; just focused. everything slowed down. Birds paused in midair, cars moved at a slow crawl, and he could cross the street before the second ticked on a stoplight.


He didn’t tell anyone. Not his parents. Not his aunt. Not even his best friend Chris, who he told everything to.

In secret, he started testing himself.

At night, he ran through alleyways, across rooftops, learning how far, how fast, how invisible he could be. He could feel the electricity still in him, coiled under his skin like energy waiting to explode. To protect his identity, he stitched together a suit from dark blue neoprene and gloves to hide his fingerprints, and scraps of his dad’s old welding gear. A sleek black visor hid his face. And just like that, Blitz was born.

At first, it was small time hero work; stopping muggers, saving people from car crashes, snatching kids out of burning buildings. The city whispered about him like he was an urban legend, but his legend grew. Dante smiled in silence. He was making a difference.

Months Later

It started again; the pull, that heavy feeling like time could stretch even further. It was during a chase. He pushed past the limit and felt his body break, just slightly; tiny cracks, bleeding noses, aching muscles. But he saved lives.

He could stretch time, yes.

But it was killing him, second by second.

The bank robbery

Blitz was patrolling near the east side when he heard the alarms. He blurred into motion, appearing at the scene in seconds. Four masked men, armed, shouting. Panic. Civilians crying, ducking. And in the middle of it all; his mother.

She was lying on the marble floor, blood pooling around her shoulder. A gunman stood over her, aiming.

Time froze; or maybe Dante did.

He could stop it. He had to stop it.

Dante felt the familiar pressure rise. His body thrummed with power.

Time stretched

The world crawled. Sweat floated in the air. A fly flapped its wings in slow motion. He was everywhere at once; disarming, dodging bullets, moving his mother out of harm's way.

His vision blurred. His ears rang. His heart pounded like a war drum.

His mother was safe.

The robbers were down.

And Blitz...he collapsed behind the bank, gasping, shaking, gritting through the pain.

But it didn’t matter though.

Because in that moment...

It was the longest minute of his life.