Saint Joseph School

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Nigel liked rain. Liked the sound of it. The sight of it. The feel of the wet air. Even the smell of it, if there was such a thing. It was soothing. It relaxed him. He even found a strange kind of beauty in the sight of wet pavement and a drenched city. Maybe it was a sub-conscious feeling of ...

It took a massive effort for Nigel to make his way back to the bench without stumbling, determined not to let the Panthers see how dizzy he was. He was learning first hand today that Tom Sylvester's reputation as the top receiver in the league was more than justified. It wasn't even that he was fast ...

Nigel listened to the coach's talk with the others, nodding along and even calling out his agreement at the appropriate times, but inside, he knew his head wasn't entirely in the game.

When the team went back out for the third, he scanned the stands, hoping to spot Kara. He didn't even know if she ...

Nigel barely saved himself some embarassment by actually remembering to stop running when he hit the end zone.

This was unbelievable. A touchdown. A real, honest to goodness touchdown. The kind of thing every defensive player dreams of. Even an avowed non-jock like Nigel felt the rush of scoring a ...

Nigel tried to relax on the bench, but he still felt like his blood vessels were going to burst. He'd been running hard the whole game, and with the secondary reduced to just him, Lucas, Kasim, and new kid Noah Ryder, there weren't going to be many chances to rest 'til the clock hit zero ...

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When I was a fighting man, the kettle-drums they beat,
The people scattered gold-dust before my horse’s feet;
But now I am a great king, the people hound my track
With poison in my wine-cup, and daggers at my back.
- Robert E. Howard, The Road of Kings


It could have been an accident.

It ...

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The sun was starting to peek over the horizon, signaling the start of a new day, but Nigel continued to sit motionless on the park bench, reluctant to let go of the last. Not until he could make sense of it, anyways.

He’d returned to the little park near the Promenade after walking Kara back ...

Nigel flopped down on the bench and groaned. He felt like his legs were on fire, chasing Lansky all over the field for most of the game. He'd been burned once, and he wasn't going to let it happen again.

Looking back to the stands, he tried to find Kara in the crowd for a quick wave. By chance, his ...

Nigel snuck into the party as quietly as he could. Everything was well underway, so it wasn't that hard for the young mutant to grab a beer and plop down next to a tree without attracting notice. Zack had wandered off as soon as they arrived, heading to a far corner of the clearing where clouds of ...

Face mask?!?! Are you freaking kidding me?!?!

Oh man! This is so totally bogus!

Freaking blind dumb-ass referee can go stick it up his... Huh?... no, I didn't say nothin'...

Nigel could barely hear a word the teacher was saying. He was so nervous and jittery, he could barely concentrate on anything for more than two seconds. Fortunately, Mr. Norris seemed to be cutting him some slack and not directing any questions his way.

The entire week had been insane, really ...

Nigel's two teammates were already waiting beneath the yellow when he arrived for their meeting. Lonnie, plopped on a bench with his crutches next to him was looking rather pale and shaken for some reason. Zack was his usual laid back self, calmly picking at his 'fro while eyeing the various young ...

“Barlow, come see me in my office when you’re done changing.”

Nigel nodded his assent to the coach’s request, manfully ignoring the curious looks from his teammates. He didn’t think he was in trouble, but he also knew he’d had a bad practice. He’d been caught out of position on several plays, and ...

Handle: Nigel Barlow

First, Last: Nigel Barlow

Known as: Nigel, Nige, Barlow, Blitz, Blitzkrieg*,

Prefers: Nigel


* This is his registered hero name

Getting up there had been the hardest part. Nigel still wasn’t sure how he’d managed the climb, especially carrying the gym bag with his supplies in it. The darkness didn’t help, but there was no doing this during the day. He’d had to wait ‘til nearly four in the morning for Atlas Square to clear ...