ploder4 Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 But, if you have to beware the uncorrupted, is it possible that Percy will be told a big lie to convince him to go to the province just in case he does gain powers? But then again, who exactly is "uncorrupted?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musclefan Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Wow can't wait to reach the next chapter! I'm hooked!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Philosopher Posted May 21, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 21, 2021 PART 8 If you asked me a few months ago, I'd never have expected a superhero built like Atlas to grab me and put me on top of his meaty shoulders, before starting to fly across the skyline of Seattle with speeds that made my cheeks look like a dog with their face outside a window. Still, Sam's initial control of his flight was incredible. He had raised us high enough in the sky that we were little more than dots to the eye of an average citizen, perhaps the reason why he had decided to fly rather than take the subway. "WHERE-ARE-YOU-TAKING-US?" I was shouting at the top of my lungs along the way, but the gusts of pressured wind made my voice sound like a mewl. Even then, Sam somehow managed to hear me, his voice sounding far louder than my own. "MY PLACE. TALK WHEN WE LAND." Even though I was still angry at him, my body still betrayed me as I felt shivers crawl up my spine, after hearing the deep bass of his voice. It was low enough that it informed you of Sam's obscene size before your eyes laid on his godly body, but it was also charming and attractive at the same time. Like the rest of him, I thought as the superhero finally started losing speed, descending both of us into the familiar city block. Landing was rougher than I expected it to be, as Sam seemed to be aiming at a garbage disposal rather than the cold ground. "SAM, LOOK OUT!" I pulled his shirt like I was pulling the reigns of a rhino, and Sam stopped our collision with the disposal at the last possible second. Instead, the G-forces of our sudden stop hit me like a hurricane and I felt myself splat on the ground like an overripe tomato. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration.It didn't really hurt, but I was afraid my spine would break in half or something equally horrible. As I recovered from the awkward fall, I inspected myself for any injuries, and was relieved when I saw that I only had a few scratches on my legs. "Christ!" Sam muttered as he got a hold of himself and rose up from the ground. "I think my speed of flight is increasing! I've never not been in control before..." he trailed off, offering me a hand. I cautiously took it, ignoring the tiny voice in my mind that told me that Sam would crush it like paste. Once I was off the dirty, garbage-littered ground as well, I recognized the street in front of us. Sam had brought us to his apartment. "Come on. We don't have much time," he said as he slightly pushed me ahead towards the main street. He might as well have shoved me across like a pebble. "WHOA! Get a hold of yourself man!" I complained as I stumbled in front, my balance saving me from getting a handful of gravel on my face. "Sorry," Sam quickly added before running ahead of me and disappearing at the corner. "Percy, you're too damn slow! Come on!" I heard him shout, and I quickly ran behind him. ^ ^ ^ Sam's apartment was messier than I remembered. I could see old takeout boxes of pizza and buckets of old fried chicken laying all around the table of his kitchen, and his living room was not in a better condition, with old laundry and leftovers having made themselves home in every corner of the room, and even on the top of the TV. "Eww. What is that smell?" I complained as a pungent, sickly sweet scent hit my nose. "Uh. A combination of meat and old pizza. I didn't have time to clean up. Sorry," Sam didn't appear concerned at all as he swiftly went to his room. "Percy! Are you coming or not?" he then shouted, and I quickly made my way to his bedroom too, my mind cackling at me. Yeah, I had fantasized about Sam shouting my name with his deep, sexy voice on his bed, but this was not the time for horny thoughts. As I entered the bedroom, I was surprised from the smell of detergent of his sheets. It was a peculiar smell, like chlorine. I frowned just a tad-bit. Sam's natural scent was rather pleasing for my nose. Can you stop?! I shouted at my mind. In front of me, I found Sam crouching over a metal suitcase, which he had placed on the top of a large, king sized bed. Obviously, someone of his size really did need a large bed if he wanted to get a good night's sleep. I took a quick glance of him as his biceps bulged at the slightest movement, growing into near-rugby ball levels of mass as he swooped a thin tablet from the suitcase. It looked really expensive, and I could guess that it was a 'gift' from the Province. Sam sat down his bed, which groaned under his weight. He then patted the spot next to him, and I quickly took it, reveling at the sensation of his warmth. The tablet quickly booted up, and Sam punched in some passwords before putting a video in full-screen. "Before I show you this, Percy, I need to be sure that you will NEVER tell this to anyone. I am not supposed to show you this, and the Province WILL screw me over if they find out. Capisce?" he nudged me with his shoulder, and I nodded. I wouldn't even trust the Province with my homework, there was no way I would tell them anything. "Also, this has some heavy stuff regarding tour father. Look, it doesn't matter what I think about him, but I can tell you that it's bad. Really bad. I still want you to see it, though." I didn't know if I was more excited or terrified. However, the thought of seeing my dad, even on video, was more than enough to convince me, and I nodded. With that, Sam pressed the play button. The video started playing, and for the first time in more than five years, I saw my dad. He was as huge and strong as I remembered. At 6'3, my father was as big as they could get, and his gym routine had proved to be really effective at further accentuating his intimidating frame. Even more, he was still handsome in his mid 50's. With a rather strong jawline and a dimpled chin, his heavy beard and his long black hair had made him the icon of male masculinity in our old district. I still remembered the looks all these women would give him when we walked together down the street, as my dad showed them that he was both a being of testosterone but also a wonderful father to his children. He always winked at them and 'accidentally' bounced his pecs when they gave him their huge smiles, but my dad was nothing if not loyal to my mother. However, looking more closely to the frames of the video, I saw that my dad appeared... older somehow. His once jet-black beard had lines of grey and white going through them, while his face had a bit more wrinkles than I remembered, and his hair had a certain salt-and-pepper quality on them. The video-stamp told me that this was indeed a video taken five years ago, and my dad certainly didn't look this old back then. As we continued watching, I noticed that my father was sitting on one side of a metal table, scratching his beard. He was in a small room, the ones you see in the movies where the police are interrogating suspects. It even had a single light-bulb on the top of ceiling to complete the look. On the other side of the table stood a very well-kept man, who was just staring at my father in deep suspicion. "Mr. Duval," the agent finally coughed after a few minutes. "Do you know why you are here?" he tapped his short, thick hands on the edge of the table. The quality of the video was excellent, and I could see every single detail of the room. The man himself was rather small, with his graying hair cut short and several wrinkles on his forehead. His suit was an immaculate piece that showed wealth and demanded obedience, but it did little to my father, who appeared bored out of his mind. He had put his big feet on the top of the metal table, ignoring the looks of annoyance that the agent shot at him, while his hands were on the back of his head, seemingly not caring about a thing in the world. Even sitting down, he still looked bigger and stronger than the standing agent. Of course, it helped that my dad was a mountain of a man, although my perception could have been slightly altered by the shorter stature of younger me. "I'm assuming because of that thing that attacked me while I was on my merry way from the bank? You people ought to protect your citizens a bit better," my father chuckled, and put his feet off the table. He was wearing his usual attire, a Hawaiian shirt that barely covered his mass behind it, and his favorite Levi Original jeans that had been washed one too many times. His black boots usually added two inches to his already tall frame, making him appear even more intimidating to the average bystander. But I knew that my dad was the sweetest, goofiest person in the planet. He was afraid of insects and thunderstorms, and he couldn't even bring himself to splat the summer mosquitoes when they swarmed in our old apartment. That was a job for mom, who would simply zap and fry them alive with her electromagnetic aura. I still remember the times she 'accidentally' electrocuted my dad too when he made her angry, the azure-blue field of her aura frying most of the electronics in our home. My old DS had suffered the same fate as well. The agent finally sat down, his eyes holding a yellow file. "Can you be more specific than that? The cameras of the bank recorded you jumping on a well-known villain and attacking him with your fists? First of all, do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Didn't you know that the villain was Deathbringer?" Agent Welder opened the file and showed us many shots of a rather fat man, dirty locks of blonde, wispy hair covering half his face, along with his outright-insane expression it had taken. He looked barely human, like he had lived inside a dumpster since his birth. "I don't really watch the news. Who wants to hear all these horrible things happening around the world? I prefer to talk to my family when we have dinner, thank you very much," my dad shrugged his meaty shoulders, causing the Hawaiian shirt to balloon up. I felt rather annoyed, not having inherited neither his height nor his apparent ease to build muscle. He then looked closer at the pictures. "And I do not know this man. What I fought didn't look... human." Agent Welder took a few seconds to respond. "Well, sir. You're not here because you defended yourself, no. What you fought was indeed NOT human. It was an avatar of the Blight. And a strong one." "Yeah. When I saw that thing, I thought someone had drugged me with psychedelics or something. Fucked with my eyes too," my father shrugged again. "So what, I'm here because I defended myself from a monster?" his voice rose slightly. I could tell that the agent was getting more annoyed by the second. "No, Mr. Duval. You're here because your powers absolutely devastated a powerful bringer of the Blight with a snap of your damn fingers!" he hit the metal table with his fist. My father raised an eyebrow. "So? It's in my rights to fight back when something tries to kill me. Big deal." The agent was staring at him with his mouth open, as if he couldn't comprehend why my father acted so innocent. "So, let me get this clear. You destroyed a simulacrum of the Blight by... snapping your fingers? It wasn't an illusion? Can you give me more details regarding the incident?" the suited agent continued, shifting papers around the desk. They all showed my father in front of a... thing. There weren't actual words to describe the abomination my father was staring down in these photos. It was like the mirror effect, showing a humanoid shadow, within a humanoid shadow, within a humanoid shadow... ad infinitum. My stomach groaned just looking at the video feed of the pictures. My mind did not like what it was seeing. As if I was staring at a natural human predator. Sam appeared uneasy as well. "What the hell is that thing?" I whispered, pausing the video. "We don't know. Some kind of inter-dimensional being that feeds on the residual energy of human death. It requires an avatar of some sorts, something or someone with the potential for mass murder. It had possessed Deathbringer, a Class 7 villain with the ability to accelerate aging in biological organisms." "Is that... is that why my father looks so old? Did Deathbringer try to make him into a living corpse?" I asked, trying to comprehend why this 'Blight' wanted to kill my dad. "Jesus. That's above my pay grade." Sam snickered a bit, and then turned serious. "Evil can take a human form, and that's the Blight, or more commonly known as the Corruption. Focus on your father, please," Sam pressed the screen again, leaving a dent where his finger met the play button. I could tell that he was either really anxious or pissed off, because he couldn't control his own strength. My father's face started moving again. He looked tired. Very tired. "What do you mean, describe you the incident? You know I'm an Unhuman. I simply used my powers to protect myself out of a crazy villain... or an eldritch abomination. Whatever. It was within my rights to stop him... it," my father shrugged. Agent Welder was growing impatient. "Mr. Duval. You have not registered your powers with the Province. We have no collection of your data, and what-what your power showcased, you might very well be a Class 8 Unhuman... or above." "Yeah, probably above Class 8. I don't usually use my matter manipulation powers after what happened back in Los Angeles, decided to keep low and forget I ever had any." "We will come back to the LA incident later. Can you please explain to me what your powers do exactly?" Agent Welder looked in the camera, as if asking for permission. My father shook his head. "I just told you. Matter manipulation. But I won't say anything else. God knows what you people will decide to do with me if I tell you what I'm capable of," he declared and got up from his seat. "Look mister, I just want to get back to my family. You've kept me here against my will for too long." The agent now appeared cautious, frightened even. "I'm... I'm afraid we can't do that sir. Class 8 Unhumans and above are required by law to be registered with the Province and either become part of the system or be sent to facilities that are able to contain them. We cannot let your powers hurt innocent lives. The risk of having you free in our society is simply too high." Dad started chuckling. "What? Are you telling me that I'm your prisoner, or some authoritarian shit like that?" he said between soft laughter. His voice then hardened like steel. "No. You let me go, mister. Now." My father seethed, and even I got scared. The camera started hazing, snow filling the frames and making it harder for us to see what was happening. All around my father, an shadow of some sorts started manifesting, white cracks of electricity shooting out of it, trying to reach the physical space around it. "SIR. PLEASE STOP RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Agent Welder reached for his gun. "We can't allow you back outside! You will still be able to see your family, just in the facilities during visiting times! This is for everyone's good!" he pleaded, but it seemed like he only made things worse. My father stood still. Space itself was warping around him, the table and chair beginning to disintegrate into fine dust. It was a horrifying phenomenon to look at, as if the metal was turning into sand in a second, and then breaking down from its own gravity. "You... you want to keep my away from my family? From my Johnny? MY PERCY?!" he roared and the aura exploded outwards. Just before the wave reached the camera, I saw what happened to the room, to the glass, to Agent Welder. All matter was disintegrating into nothingness. The agent managed to shoot my dad with the gun, but the bullet became fine sand and fell down to the ground before it even managed to get close to him. The gun followed next, literally melting on the hands of the agent, who screamed in mindless pain as steel and aluminium burned through his fingers like they were made of candle. I could barely see my father, his face hidden behind his aura of destruction. He then turned to the camera, his silhouette pointing at it. "Nobody will keep me away from my children. Nobody. I will bring down this entire fucking city if you ever dare to touch them, you hear me? If it ever crosses your tiny minds, then this will be your fate." He turned back to Agent Welder, who was still writhing in agony on the ground. The tendrils of grey matter reached him for a single moment, and then... nothing. The man's body imploded inwards in a tiny explosion of dust. It was as if he never existed. The camera was next, and before it presumably disintegrated away, my dad smirked at it for one last time. "Fear this, Province. Fear the man who has nothing to lose." With that, the feed was cut off, the 'NO SIGNAL' now displaying on the screen in red capital letters. ^ ^ ^ Neither Sam nor I said anything tor the first five minutes. Many times his gaze fell on me, but I was frozen in time, trying, desperately trying to make sense of what I had seen. My father... he killed someone. Just like that. "...Percy?" Sam broke the silence after half an hour had passed, with me still having the same expression of shock on my face. My dad could not do this horrible crime, he was the kindest, bravest, strongest dad a child could ever have. He was no murderer. He was no supervillain who could literally disintegrate people like it was nothing. No. No. "Percy?" Sam tried again, reaching to touch me with his hand. I instantly flinched back like a wild animal. Tears were running down my face, and my hands had curled into fists, ready to hit anything to take the pain away. "Tell me this is a fucking lie. An illusion. I know the Province has them to make these fake propaganda videos, feed them to the public. I know my father. My DAD is NOT that monster," I trembled, desperately trying to control my fear and fury. Sam did not offer any words of comfort. That told me everything I needed to know. I quickly grabbed my backpack from his bed and backed out of his room. Everything was spinning around me, and I felt like I was inside a spaceship about to crash into some unknown planet. Sam reached in, perhaps to hold me tight so I wouldn't do anything stupid, but I evaded his grasp. He probably let me do it. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. For some reason, I laughed. It was a tiny chuckle, and it sounded a bit insane to be honest. "There's no way. No. I-I have to get out of here," I kept saying over and over, trying to focus my mind and find the exit. Sam quickly got up from the bed and pinned me on the wall. I was afraid he'd might crush me, but I controlled my breathing. "Percy... there's more," Sam whispered. "There's more?! What more could there possibly be?" I burst out laughing, putting my hand on my forehead and pulling back my brown hair. My head was beginning to hurt, and I thought I could hear a sound resembling a tea pot left on the heater for too long. I tried focusing on the sound, but the ringing disappeared. "Your... dad. He's not in the Mountain. He's out there... somewhere." Sam said these words slowly, gently, but they still hit me harder than any of his super-powered punches could ever hurt. Of course, it made sense. Nobody could stop a man who could bend the laws of matter and nature around him, it was simply impossible. It was as likely as me winning a strength contest against Sam. I tried to say something, anything. But nothing would come out. I only stared at the frozen frame on Sam's tablet, the NO SIGNAL error almost mocking me. Behind it stood the fate of my own father. A murderer. A liar. A monster. And now, I had to face the music. My entire world had come crashing down, and I was left alone to pick up the flaming leftovers. I didn't even look at Sam as I snaked my way past his body and exited his apartment, my legs feeling far too heavy. I felt like I weighed a thousand tons, and I just dragged my backpack behind me. Sam didn't follow me back home. At least I didn't think he did. I couldn't waste energy and look behind me even if my life depended on it. As I opened the wooden door of my small apartment, I instantly saw my brother's face peek out from the kitchen with a giant smile on his face. "Hey little bro! I made pancakes! You want some?" he raised a greasy hand, but I didn't look at him. I didn't even respond to him. I simply walked to my room, and locked the door behind me. I sat down on my bed, and started crying. ^ ^ ^ It was early in the morning when the tears finally dried up and I was too exhausted to cry anymore. My head was hurting, my body was groggy, and my mind was numb. Johnny had knocked on my door several times, but he must have heard me bawling my eyes out, because he stopped knocking. I tried getting out of bed. My hands and feet were numb from staying still for so long, and my core was hurting everywhere. I waited a few seconds for the white tingling sensation to leave my hands and feet, eager to open my window and get some fresh air. I needed a change of perspective, and some water so I could cry some more. I waited, and waited. The numbness refused to leave. It was all-encompassing, and as the seconds trickled on, I felt it reach my shoulders, and my neck. I moaned, ordering my body to move, but the movements were slow, like I was walking in quicksand. My brain quickly started ringing the alarm. Something was wrong, very wrong. Had I been paralyzed somehow? I had heard the horror stories of people who slept in a weird position one day and lost the feeling of their legs, but this felt different. This numbness was cold. It almost felt alive within me, expanding, trying to rip through my skin and come out in the world. "No...." I groaned on my pillow, but the sensation kept travelling up towards my face. Shocks of electricity were now coursing through my veins, like molten lava firing up inside me and turning a long-forgotten engine. My hands suddenly started twitching like I was being electrocuted, and I quickly fell of my bed. Motes of white and black danced in my eyes as the sensation finally encompassed my entire body. In my last remnants of consciousness, I realized that I was having some sorts of a seizure. I prepared for the sweet release of unconsciousness, where everything would be muted and silent. I wanted this nightmare to end, I needed for everything to stop existing, for just one tiny little moment. And then everything would be fine. As if whatever force had possessed me had heard my mind, it granted me this mercy. I was instantly given back control of myself. I immediately gasped and flailed around like a fish out of water, coughing and trying to spit out whatever evil had gotten inside me. What the fuck just happened? My right hand quickly gave me the answer. On the inside of my palm, a single speck of a small, white sphere floated, enveloped by a tiny field of grey energy. The white particle cracked around the field, as if trying to get out, but the grey energy stopped it from escaping. I had no idea at what I was looking at, but I knew one thing. It was beautiful. So beautiful. And then I passed out. 29 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxmuscle6677 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Oh man this is getting good! And it looks like trauma finally awakened his powers! Also this is class A literature going on here and I hope when you’re finished that you seriously consider publishing. There’s a dearth of great superhero stories with Gay leads like this. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario2007 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Good for his father. Authoritarian types are far more destructive on a daily basis. Not a monster, just somebody who refuses to be locked up on a flimsy pretext. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro20316 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Percy Has gotten his powers! It looks like a rasengan? LOL. Maybe a combination of his mom and Dad's. Also i have a feeling Jhonny brother is hiding his own powers as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro20316 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 Percy Has gotten his powers! It looks like a rasengan? LOL. Maybe a combination of his mom and Dad's. Also i have a feeling Jhonny brother is hiding his own powers as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingorother Posted May 24, 2021 Share Posted May 24, 2021 i love this story and honestly it could make you a well known author on this website and when its finished you if possible you should put it in the 5th annual storyiversary 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaMusc Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 I'm surprised that Percy was so upset about the video. All his father wanted was to be left alone - left with his family. It will be very interesting to see how this dynamic plays out. Looking forward to more from this 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philosopher Posted June 5, 2021 Author Share Posted June 5, 2021 Sorry for the wait, I would have uploaded two days ago but I had to figure out what I'm gonna do with university and all, decided not to do a placement year and just finish it next year. Oh well, we'll see how it goes. Also, this chapter will introduce an appropriate... horror element to the story, so I hope you enjoy. PART 9 When you’re alone in bed, trying to piece back your broken life, time seems to move at a faster pace, as if desperately trying to make you lose your deadline. It had been two weeks after Sam showed me the video of my dad killing a Province agent in the most horrific way I had ever seen in my entire life. Not that I had actually seen people die, but being disintegrated surely wasn’t one of the best ways to go. It wasn’t the same when Johnny told me that Kruger had been run over by a truck. No, the man deserved that. But the agent was doing his job, and my dad had deleted him from reality for that. My own father. I still couldn’t accept it. My mind refused to understand how the man in the video was my father, and how he had killed someone like that. Accepting it meant that I was the child of a villain, of a murderer. Both Johnny and me. “Percy?” my brother knocked at my door as if I had somehow summoned him. “You have a visitor. You don’t want to keep them waiting now, do you?” his voice sounded hopeful. I moaned in response, sounding like an angry elf. “Percy, I won’t ask again. Please don’t embarrass me in front of your friends.” “TELL THEM I DIED AND WENT IN HELL!” I half shouted, burying myself in the bed even more. “Percy Duval, if you don’t come right out of your damn room, I will fry you. Do you understand?” Johnny suddenly rose his voice and punched the door, which buckled under his strength. Even with his daily sitting job in an office, my brother was still strong like an ox. “Jesus! Fine! Calm down, princess!” I grumbled, only to realize what had come out of my mouth. The word 'princess' was almost forbidden in our house these days, as it reminded Johnny of his inability to save me from the clutches of brainwashing supervillain Princess. In response, Johnny placed his hands on the door, and slowly, the familiar tendrils of electricity began slipping through the edges, threatening to turn me into an electrical socket if I didn’t comply. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry. Just give me a second to get off my pajamas.” Needless to say, I hadn’t come out of my bedroom these days, only opening the door to sneak into the kitchen and get some food so I wouldn’t starve while I was cocooned on my own bed, trying to comprehend my new, broken reality. Johnny had tried his best to make me tell him what had unsettled me so much, but I wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t do this to him, tell him that our father was indeed someone who had killed a person like they were fodder. Moreover, the fact that my powers had somehow awakened at the worst possible moment was another factor that didn’t allow me to leave my room. After I had seen the particle of white light and its forcefield, I had quickly passed out, perhaps from the shock or overexertion. When I woke up the next day, the only evidence that my powers had left behind was a black mark on the floor, vaguely in a shape of an orb. I was ecstatic. The realization that I had powers had somewhat taken my mind off the case with my father, giving me something new to play and interact with. But as I soon found out, trying to replicate my powers was futile, and impossible. I simply couldn’t bring myself to summon another white particle, whatever the hell it was. After trying out everything I could after a few days, I gave up, and my mind floated back to the depressive understanding of my powers. And also my dad. Maybe that is all there was in my power. A party trick that could take a month to recharge. Yes, a power. But a useless one. “PERCY! I won’t ask again,” my brother’s angry voice reverberated through my room. I quickly picked whatever I could find on the floor, some old washed-out jeans two sizes bigger than me, and a white t-shirt with Timebreaker’s logo on it, the cartoon image of the Earth being divided in two by a ray of numbers and clocks. Timebreaker. One of Province’s big guns, for villains or threats that the less proficient heroes couldn’t handle on their own. Along with Mister Superior and Wannabe Girl, they formed the Paragons of Province, a group of three heroes that were the last line of defense in case things went very south for the good of humanity. Timebreaker was once my favorite hero, as he was one of the few Unhumans who fought smart, not hard. His abilities revolved around the local manipulation of time, which would speed up or slow down according to his will. I still remembered when he had fought against the Dinocrab, a mutated amalgamation of several dinosaur and arachnid species, grown so much that it could level entire blocks with a swift of its elongated, crusty legs. Rather than fighting it face on, Timebreaker had simply surrounded the monster with one of his time bubbles, making time inside the bubble flow much slower than usual, effectively freezing Dinocrab in place until Mister Superior lifted the monstrosity to the sky and threw it into deep space, never to be seen again. I missed these times, where I adored superheroes with all my heart. Now, the same shirt was a reminder of what I had lost. With a sigh, I pulled it over my thin shoulders and took a look at myself before I left the room. I could feel the dark circles under my eyes, the throbbing headache that was forming from moving too fast too soon, the physical and mental exhaustion having a field day in my body. This better be important. “What?” I seethed as I opened the door to see the rather annoyed face of my brother. His electricity had scalded the wood of my bedroom door, black marks appearing everywhere. It would take ages to clean them. “Julia is in the kitchen, waiting for you. Does she have ADHD or something? She keeps fidgeting like she’s being interrogated,” Johnny sighed, putting his hand on his eyes, and rubbing them. “I’m getting too old for this.” “Julia is perfect, thank you very much.” “Yeah, about that…” his face grew more awkward. “I don’t know if you and mom had the birds and the bees talk before she was shipped off to the Mountain, but I want you to be safe, so… here,” he said, producing a blue box from behind his back. “I trust you that you will be careful,” he quickly added and left for his own room, locking the door behind him. I took a glance at the box and felt my face drop. ‘XL Condoms for the well-endowed man’ was written on top of the condom packet in light blue letters. I gagged as I threw the box in my room, trying to forget what my brother had given me. He didn’t know that Julia and I were definitely not compatible to be a romantic couple, which reminded me that I still hadn’t come out to Johnny. Moreover, I hadn’t measured down there for quite some time, so I wouldn’t even know if these would fit me. As to why my brother had them, I tried not to think about that. Shaking my head, I quickly made my way to the kitchen. Julia was sitting down the table, staring at the wall as if it were the most beautiful painting on the planet. “Jules? You alright?” I made myself known, and Julia instantly turned, a giant smile on her tanned face. “Percy! It’s been so long!” she made a beeline to me, enveloping me in a tight hug that almost took my breath away. The small training regime I had put her on seemed to be working really well. “How have you been? Your answers on our emails were incredibly… brief, so I thought I dropped in to see how you’re holding on. You look awful, by the way.” It didn’t take a genius to know that Julia was right. Sleepless nights and nerve-wracking days did that to you. “Thanks for the compliment. Jeez. I’m doing pretty good, thank you very much.” Julia’s expression changed somewhat, almost as if she was disappointed in me. “You don’t have to lie to me. Hey, is Sam around?” she then asked, her voice barely a whisper. “Sam? No, why would he be here? He’s probably enjoying his break doing… whatever,” I commented, trying not to put any inflection in the sentence that would betray my real feelings on the matter. “I mean, he can probably hear us from his apartment, no? Super hearing and all?” she seemed to be lost in thought, watching outside the kitchen’s window for anything unusual. “Sam isn’t an Unhuman, Julia. He can’t hear you; his apartment is a block away from mine.” Even though Sam wasn’t in my good graces anymore, I still didn’t want to betray his trust like that. Doing that seemed wrong, unethical and more importantly, dangerous. I didn’t know how Julia had found out, but I tried steering her away from the truth. “Perhaps he’s with his family?” Julia gave me the mean eye. “Sam doesn’t have any family. And he freaks the fuck out of me. Please tell me he can’t hear what we are saying. He’s a bad influence, a baddie,” her voice rose slightly, gripping the table, her knuckles white. “He’s what makes everyone go bye-bye. And that’s because he started talking to you,” she trembled. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she was looking through me. An orange tinge had appeared around her irises, making her look ancient and weird. Something was wrong. That was pretty clear to me. “Hey, what’s fifty-two plus twenty-nine?” I grabbed Julia’s hands and she stared at me. The orange light dissipated as fast as it had appeared. “Owie. My brain hurts. I hate it when you ask me these questions!” she brought her feet down the floor with force. Then, her demeanor changed, giddiness and excitement showering her face. “Okay, here’s the deal! Me, you, Portland, for the rest of the break. My aunt sent me an email that she’s going on holidays in Italy with her new boyfriend, and that her place is mine for the rest of the month if I want to. And before you say no, I’m calling in all the favors you owe me. Telling you about all those pop quizzes isn’t free,” she winked at me. “Portland? Have you seen the news about the city’s supervillain community? They own the city, never mind all these serial killers running around! Vendetta, Toy Maker, Mummificator, Pervert. I’m not a fan of superheroes, but even I agree that the city needs them.” Julia gave me her well-known puppy look that almost broke my heart. “P-Percy? Are you not going to do it for me? I just want to have some fun with you. You look genuinely unhappy, I know that a change of scenery will brighten up you mood,” she putted, rubbing her hands on her cheeks. Sometimes, I hated how easily Julia could make me change my mind. “Oh my god. Fine. But you’re getting me some Shake Shack before we leave. And no more than a week! We still have school, even though we’re seniors.” Julia’s wide grin told me that she knew I’d say yes. “WEEEEE! JULIA AND PERCY, GOING ON A TRI-IP!” she sung as she jumped up and down like a toddler. “We’re going to have so much fun, I’ll show you the forest, and my old friends, and the library!” she cheered and took my hand in a small, awkward dance. I could only give her a small smile as my mind moaned in frustration for giving in so easily. ^ ^ ^ ACK. HRRK! The bus groaned and shook as if it was on its dying, last breath. Behind us, cars beeped furiously, begging for us to move faster. The bus driver simply beeped back, the bus’s horn resembling the roar of a gargantuan beast. CLANG! Both Julia and I felt something give in from under the bus. We both looked at each other, and then behind us, only to see a shiny metal object laying down on the street, the cars screeching into a stop to avoid it. However, the bus continued on its merry way, the driver not caring a single bit that something had literally fallen off the vehicle. “Where did you find this bus service again?” I gave a look of condemnation to Julia, who only whimpered in return. “It was the cheapest thing I could find. My family doesn’t have lots of money, with all the MRI scans I have to do, and I couldn’t bring myself to ask them for more,” she slowly said, drawing abstract figures on her legs with her nails. Guilt befell me, and I brought her hand to mine. “It’s okay. Who cares about the bus anyways? We’re going to have so much fun in Portland, just you and me!” I smiled, and Julia gave me a weak nod, biting her nails. “Besides, we’re almost here.” Outside, the scenery had started changing from the massive highways filled with traffic to smaller, gravel roads. There were less cars surrounding us now, perhaps afraid that another part of the bus would come loose and hit them. To my surprise, I could start seeing more and more trees appearing between small houses, the little estates not even two-stories high. We were on the outskirts of Portland now, and many old mahogany and yew trees could be seen looming all around the streets of the outer city. I didn’t want to admit it, but the landscape was rather beautiful. I was always fond of trees and forests, and it felt like we were travelling towards the countryside rather than one of the most villainous cities of the country. “I knew you’d like it,” Julia winked at me and then motioned for me to get up. The bus was slowing down now, approaching a station. We swiftly hurried out of it and grabbed our suitcases from the downstairs compartment, the driver grunting as he closed the door and engulfed us in a cloud of exhaust. When the smoke finally cleared, we found ourselves in the edge of a street. The bigger buildings of the central city could be seen far away in the distance, looming ominously, casting deep shadows to the rest of the districts. But here, on the edge of the city, I was surprised to see how beautiful everything seemed to be. Every house in the neighborhood was small and compact, but their materials, aged firewood and murky stone, had given them an aura of aristocracy and influence. The architects had designed them to have an old, Victorian-esque layout and with the abundance of the large trees surrounding every yard and gap between the houses, the completed image was stunning. “Is your aunt rich or something?” I quickly glanced at Julia, who was searching her bag for the keys. She started walking towards the end of the street, where a small cabin had been constructed, albeit in a less expensive way than the other houses. It was still nice, but it lacked the grandiose of the rest of the neighborhood. “This is it,” she pointed at a nearby street sign. “Eternia Street, the only neighborhood close to the Eternia Woods. Then, running towards the cabin and opening the door, she smiled. “God, I missed this place. Come on!” she yelled and disappeared in the interior of the house. I promptly joined her. The entire house had been enveloped in a thick layer of dust, which had settled in every surface it could find. The couches, the tables, the small drawers, even the fireplace, they all had massive amounts of dust on them, as if they had been abandoned for years. All around the entrance of the house, I could see multiple cobwebs lying around, and based on the small noises I could hear underneath me, I wondered how many bugs had made their nests inside. “Umm. Are you sure that your aunt lives here? Place seems abandoned,” I commented as I tried to turn on the lights. Either the power or the light-bulbs were dead. “I… don’t know. She sent me the email last week. Maybe she started staying with her boyfriend and she forgot to clean the place?” she wondered, letting her suitcases on the couch, which showered her with a giant wave of dust. “Yuck. Okay, I’m going to the local store to buy some bug sprays and other cleaning equipment. Maybe some food too,” she dusted herself off and quickly grabbed her purse. “Your job is to open all the windows, get some fresh air going on in case there’s mold. I’ll see if an old friend still works in the mart, and if so, I’ll tell him to help us clean too!” she shouted as she left, closing the door behind her. I sighed. The silence of the house was making me feel paranoid for some reason. Something felt off. Wrong. Like someone was watching me, an invisible being that observed his every move. This sensation had been following me after I had awakened my powers, a malignant feeling that seemed almost hungry for me. Perhaps it was the paranoia from all these nights lying awake. Or maybe it was the Province spying on me from a satellite. I wouldn’t put it past them, they made the NSA look like children in terms of espionage. I started opening the windows of the living room, only to find them stuck with rust. This didn’t make sense, even if Julia’s aunt had left months ago, rust would take ages to form. Still, I grunted, and the window finally opened, a horrible screeching noise assaulting my ears. I was about to continue his boring task when a loud boom emanated from outside the house. The shockwave even managed to reach me, and the ground reverberating from the shock. A single name crossed over my mind. Sam. I rushed to the windows looking over the street, my eyes looking for signs of the well-muscled giant, ready to punch me into submission. I was sure of it. He had found me, somehow. Now Sam was here to send me to the Mountain or something because my powers were unknown and therefore dangerous. My arm started getting numb, anxiety increasing my heart rate and almost causing me to hyperventilate. But there was no Sam on the street. Only two little kids, a boy, and a girl, staring at something that had fallen on the ground. It was one of the massive trees, now lying flat on the pavement. Its larger body seemed to have broken off the bark. “Do it again! Do it again!” the little girl jumped up and down in glee, pointing at another nearby tree. On the other hand, the boy was clutching his head, seemingly in pain. “Give me a minute. It hurts my eyes when I do it too much.” “Again! Again!” the girl continued, dragging the boy with her. Eventually, the boy brought both of his hands together, and a single orb of yellow light appeared out of nowhere. Then, pulling his arms away from each other, the orb elongated into some sorts of spear made out of golden light. “My fingers will burn if I hold it too much,” he said between gasps for air. He then threw the spear towards the center of another unlucky tree, the tip of the spear drilling into the bark in seconds, before exiting the other side and travelling some distance. After a while, the spear dissolved into motes of white light, while the tree had now a colossal hole on it. It quickly proceeded to break under its own weight, the bark not nearly strong enough to support the rest of the tree. With another intense thump, it fell down to the ground, never to rise again. I could see the girl pointing at another girl for the boy to shoot down, when a shrieking voice stopped both of them on their tracks. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU LITTLE TWERPS?!” an old man, still in his grey pajamas, came running outside his house, panting and wheezing as he tried to catch the kids. “I’LL REPORT YOU TO THE PROVINCE AND THEY’LL LOCK YOU IN THE MOUNTAIN FOREVER!” he screamed behind them as the duo started running away from the man, screaming, and shouting for their mommies. The man stopped chasing them after a while, grumbling and shouting curses. “Little hooligans with powers. Little gremlins. Province should take the lot of you and send you to one of the Poles, see what good it does for you.” The man observed the fallen trees for a second, before slamming his door with all the strength he could muster. I reckoned that sending two kids towards the Poles to fight was not something any sane would ever do. Still, a little kid, probably no more than twelve, had already awakened to his powers and had a rather good control at them. I can’t say the same. I tried my best to not feel envious about it, but I couldn’t. Why don’t you go to the forest to test your powers then? The sudden thought that appeared in my mind came out of literally nowhere. I was stunned for a single second, wondering that I was thinking about something else at the same time and the two trains of thought had interconnected with each other. Go to the forest. It will be good. Perhaps my brain was offering me some advice for once. I found myself quickly agreeing to the idea, as if things were finally beginning to make sense. With a smile, I grabbed my backpack and exited the house, not forgetting to close the windows and doors behind me. The path towards the forest was hidden behind the sign saying ‘Eternia Woods: Home of the Mighty Yews’. The initial clearing seemed full, with several old trucks and bigger vehicles having parked in the entrance, perhaps families deciding to hike in the forest. The air was chilly, and as I started entering the first yards of the woods, I felt the sun above me get blocked by the numerous branches and leaves of the tall trees. But Julia was right. The forest was indeed beautiful. The trees were spacious, giving each other enough land to grow and prosper, while the ground was filled with all kinds of different flowers, all in different colors. I walked on a single direction, taking in all the wonderful beauty of nature around me. For reasons not known to me, I was smiling like a petulant child. Touching the old barks was giving me a sense of connection with the forest itself. Yes. Very beautiful. Come closer. The woods were silent, almost otherworldly. Only the wind would gently shake the yellow and green leaves on the very top of the yew and mahogany trees, and yet there were no signs of critters or other insects. I was walking slower now, but still heading towards the center. The temperature also continued to drop as time went on, and the chilliness soon became an uncomfortable frostiness. Still, I kept walking. The woods were inviting me to get closer, become one with nature, learn from it. Almost there now. And then I found myself in the middle of a smaller clearing. The trees here were smaller and weathered, an ugly black covering the bark instead of a healthy brown. These trees had no leaves in them, making them appear hostile. Where am I? I was perplexed. I couldn’t understand why I had walked so much to get to this clearing. Glancing upwards, my confusion turned to panic as I saw the deep orange color of the sun, signaling the incoming sunset. But it was early in the afternoon when I started! How long have I been walking?! Panic soon gave into fear, and I looked around me. I was definitely lost, my sense of direction giving me absolutely nothing to get myself out of this stupid situation. The crunch of a fallen leaf instantly made me look back towards the clearing like a scared animal, expecting to find a wild bear, ready to eat me. But as I looked around, I didn’t see anything. No. Wait. Behind the tree. There was someone behind the tree. A thin silhouette slowly began to reveal itself from its hiding spot, slithering out like a snake. I tried to see who it was, but I couldn’t. The silhouette had the shape of a small woman, thin and short, but there were no other characteristics I could find. I only found myself staring at a living shadow. A living shadow that had another living shadow inside it, mimicking its movements. Another shadow, within another shadow. Ad infinitum. The thing started laughing, a sound resembling innumerable bugs trying to imitate the noise of mocking laughter. A billion different voices, all screaming, yelling, tearing into each other. All of them were laughing, some because they wanted to, others because they were forced to. It was a horrific sound, alien. And then the shadow spoke. “P E R C Y D U V A L ! T H E R E Y O U A R E !” they all moaned in a terrible unison. It couldn’t be. It was not possible. The eldritch abomination knew my name. It started walking closer to me, the silhouette resembling the movements of a broken puppet, as if it didn’t know how to properly walk. I had seen it before, in Sam's tablet. It was the Blight, the Corruption, here to take me. I proceeded to heave the contents of my breakfast towards the nearby bush. Just looking at this horror was enough to make me want to scream until I couldn't anymore. It leaked terror, pure, undiluted terror. All aimed towards me. “No. NO. STAY AWAY FROM ME!” I shrieked as I instantly bolted away from the creature, my fight or flight sensation finally kicking in. Stay. Stay. Stay. Stay. Stay. STAY. The intruding thoughts started hammering in my mind, distracting me, and causing me to falter. The monster was somehow invading my own consciousness, screaming at me to stay put. “Oh god, oh god help me,” I mumbled at myself as I continued running randomly in one direction. My hands were getting numb again, but now I could feel a steady pressure increasing on my palm, like I had put a firecracker in it. I risked a glance behind me, and what I saw made me fall. The entity was but a few feet behind me, levitating off the ground as if physics didn’t apply to it. Its hands were raised, shadowy fingers trying to grab me. This was it. I would die by an alien horror. You will join the party. You will join the fun. I brought both my hands in front of me to at least try and protect my face, when I noticed a familiar light lying in the middle of my palm. It was shining in sync with my own heartbeat, and the grey energy all around it did the same thing. With nothing else to do, I threw the minuscule particle at the entity, hoping that it would buy me some seconds to get up and escape. “P E R-“ it had started talking when it noticed the particle flying towards it. Its neck cracked sideways like a dog seeing a new toy, but the sound of a snapping neck made me gag in my mouth. I prayed to everything that the light could do something, anything to save me from certain death. At that moment, the grey forcefield around the light ceased to exist. The particle floated in the middle of the air for a single second, before it too, blipped out of existence. I was about to laugh at my own expense for having the most useless power in the planet, when the air around the entity started getting sucked in where the particle stood a second ago. I took this as a cue to start running, but as I managed to get a few feet away, the air around me proceeded to also get sucked in. The power of the air vacuum was getting stronger, far stronger than I expected. I had to latch my fingers into a nearby tree to not stumble backwards. The current was getting so strong that my fingers started to bleed from the exertion, the bark cutting into them. With my relative security now dealt with, I looked behind me to see whether the monster was affected by the gravitational pull. To my surprise, it was. Space all around the monster seemed to be stretching inwards somehow, or perhaps that was an illusion of the air as it got sucked in. And then everything exploded. The shockwave blew me backwards like a ragdoll several feet into the opposite direction, and I could feel fire and energy crackle all around me. I hit the ground with my back, and I felt something give in my body. There was so much power coming out of the center of the explosion, burning everything on its path. I could do nothing as the wall of fire came for me. ^ ^ ^ When I opened my eyes, I was laying on the garden of Julia’s house. I tried to move my hands, only for an excruciating, mind-bending pain to come from them. They felt like they were still on fire. Was it all a dream? Did I somehow fall asleep outside the house? Intruding thoughts gave me the answer I so desperately sought. Tiny. Empty holes in the sky. Delicate. Shining emptiness. White. Growing absences of life. Black. Swarming death. And you shall become us. 18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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