《Specious Present》


 0.0: First Contact

    Even now, I saw him smile.


    ¡°This is stupid, and way too dangerous Blake, and you know it!¡±


    My boyfriend, in all his stubbornness, shook his head and laughed, a cheery sound that contrasted so starkly with the ruin around us. Buildings burned, bodies lay scattered like broken dolls, and the church we had been staying at while living in this town was barely standing. I yelped and dodged to the side as a chunk of what used to be a house crashed down next to me. Blake grinned at me.


    ¡°This is the day I¡¯m at my strongest, Lys. No matter what that thing is, the Mutated are animals. As long as you¡¯re stronger than them, they¡¯ll bow to you. And so, I¡¯ll make that thing bow to me. One final service to this place before the world ends, for letting us stay here for so long.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°You¡¯re being a moron. There is no way I¡¯ll be able to get in there and help you if you get injured! Even if I try, I could get hurt in the crossfire, and then who¡¯s going to pull your butt out of the fire?¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon Lys, we¡¯ve known each other for so long, you should have nothing less than full confidence in me! None of that will be a problem, and you won¡¯t need to do a thing but sit here and look pretty.¡±


    I closed my eyes and inclined my head, ¡°Fine. I know I can¡¯t stop you. Just¡­be careful, alright?¡±


    In a rare moment of intimacy, something we almost never get, Blake grabbed me and hugged me tight. ¡°It¡¯ll be just like any other fight. I¡¯ll come back smiling. Just watch me!¡±


    With that, he stepped into the smoke that I had been ignoring, hoping it might go away. We weren¡¯t sure what it was, but the thing that had attacked this small town was definitely not normal. Likely a Mutated, an Amp that had been exposed to someone else who had just unlocked their powers. Sometimes, nothing happens. Sometimes, your power changes, gaining some new aspect to it. And sometimes¡­sometimes it warps into your body, twisting you into an animal. A monster. A Mutated. Though this one had seemed strange, even for a Mutated. It was almost humanlike in its movement, for even though Mutated were humans deep down, they tended to act like animals. But this one hadn¡¯t, it almost had seemed like it was looking for survivors.


    I stared at the mist with bated breath for several minutes, before realizing it might be a long fight, and anticipation would do me no good. So, slumping down on a nearby crate, I relaxed my body, stiff from the past five days of activity and combat. Despite not being the person doing most of the fighting, I still felt aches due to my power. Allowing me to sync up my body with someone else¡¯s, and normalize their body to my state, it was an extremely useful power that did me absolutely no good in a combat scenario. Without someone to protect me, I was just the weak backline healer...or so most thought. I had trained myself in martial arts, or whatever I could learn from YouTube anyway.


    Even though that blasted smoke was too thick to see through, I could hear sounds of a fight. The dull thud of a fist hitting some fleshy appendage, a grunt of pain, an inhuman snarl. It was like listening to a movie, you could almost make out what was happening, but you could not quite grasp what was happening, not without looking up at the screen.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    My mind wandered as I sat in the empty village, the lack of things for my brain to focus on causing it to drift into the deep recesses of my mind, seeking out corners I forgot were even there. Today, I thought about the first time I met Blake.


    I shook my head. Harbinger, Alyssa. You know that. Speak and think in our super names, so we don¡¯t expose ourselves. Not that it would matter all that much, but my parents knowing I was an Amp, but didn¡¯t join a hero team? Chose to run away with a boy, practically elope? I don¡¯t think it would go over very well. Though I doubted they hadn¡¯t noticed I was gone by now.


    I smiled as I recalled Blake¡¯s face when he first saw me. It was like a child¡¯s face when they first see someone preform a magic trick. It was the face of someone who had just seen something that was magical, at least to them. It was probably that expression that first made me like him.


    Of course, looks didn¡¯t hurt, and he was not lacking there either. Tall, dirty blond and muscular, Blake had the kind of face that could switch from looking like a puppy to an attack dog depending on who he was talking to. Of course, it would be puppy mode with me. But with some of the more unsavory types of our school, he would switch to attack dog mode. I don¡¯t know what he could have done if he hadn¡¯t gotten his powers, considering for all his muscle, he tended to lose fights, simply because he was clumsy. But now¡­well, it were his powers that convinced me, in part, to fake our deaths and leave our hometown. He said the apocalypse was coming, and he wanted to keep me safe when it happened.


    Pausing, I glanced at the dust cloud. It hadn¡¯t moved or settled¡­in fact, I realized I hadn¡¯t heard any sound coming from the cloud in several minutes.


    Then, I heard Blake shout in anguish.


    It was a short sound, but it punctuated the awful silence, and my heart slammed into my ribs.


    ¡°Blake?!¡± I screamed, forgetting anything about codenames.


    Running into the smoke, I screamed again, ¡°Blake? Blake!¡± but no response. As I got closer to the center of this smoke storm, I started to feel little nips at my side, then my hand, then my leg¡­I glanced around, and realized I was standing inside a veritable sandstorm of metal shard and wood slivers, capable of giving you more than just a splinter. Ignoring the minor pain I felt, I looked around wildly for Blake. And then, I saw it.


    As large as a lion, with similar features: a long, whip-like tail covered in wicked spikes, and a face that looked like a human face, but distorted, twisted into a permanent snarl which curled across the lower half of the beast¡¯s jaw, full of sharp teeth. More spikes covered it¡¯s face, the long, lithe body¡­even its eyes were nothing more than two especially straight spikes. A mockery of a nose sniffed the air, and it lifted a bloody, dripping paw from-


    ¡°Blake!¡± I shrieked. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d even screamed that loud when I was in choir. And apparently it was the wrong decision, as the lion¡­thing turned its head towards me, and I swear it smiled. It readied itself to pounce, but the second before it did¡­the world seemed to pause.


    My head suddenly hurt. I clutched it and saw, with no small amount of surprise, that the lion monster was scratching at its head as well, grunting in pain.


    Memories flashed inside of my head as a static-like buzz filled my ears. Choir class, school in general, friends I had and lost through stupid arguments, Blake¡­


    Was this what they called seeing your life flash before your eyes? I had thought that only applied to the one dying, though. Or maybe the apocalypse was coming early. It was scheduled for tomorrow, but maybe plans changed. Do gods get bored? Was there one, or several, floating above us, yelling at the human race to get going and do something interesting? Who knows. I had never paid attention in church¡­maybe I should have. I would have had someone to pray to, at least.


    And finally, the noise stopped. The images stopped. And the world stopped.

 1.1: Opening Gambit

    New Delta Tower


    June 3, 9:43 P.M.


    I kicked my feet up and relaxed in my chair, though it was really more of a couch that had been cut in half. Completely ignoring the annoyed look on Mark¡¯s face, I grabbed my juice packet and sipped from it. Lemon, nice.


    ¡°Listen to me, Lelia! This is important!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You know I don¡¯t like to put energy into things unless they require my power. And I¡¯ve been given the leave to do it.¡±


    ¡°Rrrgh-¡± Clutching at his hair, Mark stalked to the side of the room, then back again. ¡°Listen. We know there aren¡¯t many villains operating out of New Delta, that¡¯s why we have the biggest Array here, and why there aren¡¯t any Hero Errants to back us up. They trust us to run ourselves, to cope. And we do-¡±


    ¡°We do!¡± I add.


    ¡°-but! We¡¯ve been receiving some weird information recently. You know Abacus?¡±


    I took another sip of sour lemon. ¡°The Errant that sees everything as numbers? What about him?¡±


    ¡°Right, he¡¯s got lines to all the Arrays and Errants out there. You can always call on him for help with something if he isn¡¯t busy. Problem is, he called me up. He asked me why there were so many Amps in New Delta. I told him there aren¡¯t. There¡¯s us, Chump Change, Cheshire, maybe one or two others who drift in or out¡­and he said there were over twenty Amps in New Delta.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Well, that¡¯s definitely not normal.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! So I want the whole team going out on patrol today. I¡¯m nervous.¡±


    ¡°Ughhhh,¡± I groaned, ¡°Why? If there were fifteen Amps that were moving as a group, I think we¡¯d notice them. Plus, if they were new Amps, just having received their powers, we¡¯d get reports of them activating their powers. Neither have happened.¡±


    ¡°And? They can¡¯t be secretive about it?¡±


    ¡°Look, if you really wanna force me, I can go. But it¡¯ll waste some of my power reserves.¡±


    ¡°Lelia¡­you lounge around all day, every day. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything to worry about when it comes to your reserves.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, and crumpled the plastic juice packet in my hand, tossing it into a nearby can. ¡°Fine. When do we leave?¡±


    ¡°Now.¡±


    ---- ----


    The cool night air blew past my hair as I leaped onto the rooftop. I tugged at a tangle in my hair, waiting for my teammates to catch up to me. The black strands caught, then came loose, and I shook my head, letting my naturally long hair fall around my head in clumps. I adjusted my small mask, which sat just above my nose, looking like the top part of a rabbit¡¯s face crossed with a theatre mask. It was obvious, considering my power and the name I chose to go with for my superhero career, but it was at least complementary to my physique.


    Mark landed next to me. His power didn¡¯t have anything to do with movement, but he still was the first to arrive. The guy is way too uptight, and really needs to relax a bit. He¡¯s either training, working on the group, or patrolling. I don¡¯t think he even sleeps. He barely glanced my way as he turned to give a hand up to our next teammate.


    ¡°Hey, Aiden! He rope you into this too?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Rabbit. Shh! Codenames!¡± Mark hissed at me.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry. Hallow, good to know I¡¯m not alone in my torment.¡±


    Aiden shrugged, grinning. His blond hair was far too short to be affected by the wind, but he still swayed with it, as if he was being moved by the wind. I knew he wasn¡¯t doing it on purpose, but it was deceptive. If I was an enemy, I would have taken him as an easy target, which would be a big mistake.


    Not a second later, my best friend on the team blinked into existence next to us, seeming to elongate out of the floor and form into her body. She waved. ¡°Hey guys! I¡¯m excited! It¡¯s been waaaay too long since we all patrolled together!¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Well, I never said she was my best friend because of her personality.


    Mark- er, Loophole, nodded at her. ¡°Right. Ramshackle is following on the ground. Rabbit, you scout ahead, since you¡¯re faster. Slipstream, stick with her, and Hallow and I will follow behind. Come back right away if you see anything.¡±


    I scoffed, then turned to run off, but Loophole grabbed my shoulder. ¡°Hey. No jokes. I have a feeling, something¡¯s up. Be careful, and report back if you see anything, not matter what.¡±


    ¡°Ugh, fine, let¡¯s get moving!¡± I leaped off the rooftop to the next building, and landed running.


    Occasionally, Slipstream would appear next to me, elongating into being, and hold a short sentence or two of conversation.


    ¡°Soo, what do you think is going on? With all the new Amps in town?¡±


    I waited until she reappeared. ¡°Good question. I think it¡¯s nothing, probably just a big group moving through to get to Alpha City, or something. That¡¯s where most Amps congregate, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­maybe~?¡±


    I sighed as she vanished again. She could be frustrating to talk to, but she could also move me when I didn¡¯t want to move, conserving my energy. So, she was awesome, in that sense.


    I tucked into a roll as I landed on the next building, then paused. It was going to take a big leap to make it to the next buildings, seeing as we¡¯d reached an alleyway. On a whim, I glanced down, to see if there was maybe a mugging going on that I could stop, get a bit of excitement. I paused, and then quickly crouched down. As soon as Slipstream popped onto the roof, I pulled her down and held a finger to her lips.


    ¡°Look!¡± I pointed down into the alley, and there, a small group of people were surrounding a larger group. Surrounding may have been a strange term, but it was the only one I could think of, seeing how predatory the small group looked. There couldn¡¯t have been more than six of them, but whenever any one of them moved, the whole group of civilians in the center flinched. There were maybe ten, twenty people down there, and yet something scared them enough to keep them hemmed in. The outer group all wore shoddy masks, just enough to protect their identities, nothing fancy.


    ¡°Psst, Rabbit,¡± Slipstream whispered, ¡°Give me your hand, let¡¯s get back to Loophole.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°And let y¡¯all get all the glory? No way, no how. I¡¯ll deal with this real quick, you get the others.¡±


    ¡°Rabbit, wait-!¡± But I had already jumped.


    Infusing my legs with a bit of my power, the jump launched me much further than it should have, and when I crashed down onto the blond girl in the outer ring of the alley, it was with enough force to knock out a human. She crumpled, and everyone turned to look at me. A boy, no more than two years older than me, clapped his gloved hands together lightly.


    ¡°Well, would you look at that. Right on time, too. Though, I heard the Array here was¡­well, it wasn¡¯t just one person.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all that¡¯s needed to take you down,¡± I smirked, ¡°Speaking of, one down already.¡± I kicked at the girl I had knocked out¡­except she was already up, moving away from me. I could have sworn she had fallen over unconscious¡­


    ¡°Now, that¡¯s just rude. Bang, if you would teach her some manners?¡±


    Another boy, not the one who had been talking, who was wearing some sort of half-face mask that covered a vertical part of his face, smirked. Extending his hand towards me, he made his fingers into the shape of a gun. Someone in the crowd of civilians shrieked. I looked around, confused, as the boy pretended to shoot me with his fingers, closing one eye and saying, in a cocky tone, ¡°Bam. Done.¡±


    I paused. Nothing had happened. I chuckled. ¡°Okay, kids. I think it¡¯s time to stop messing around, and-¡±


    ¡°Rabbit!¡± The panicked scream came from Loophole, who jumped off the roof and landed near me, running at me. I took a step towards him, confused. ¡°What-¡±


    It was the force that shocked me when I felt it. Something ripped through the space where my arm and side were, carving out a huge chunk in the shape of a circle from my flesh. I toppled over, in shock for a second, before I started screaming. More from the shock than anything. What had just happened?


    Loophole shook me. ¡°Hey. Hey! You¡¯ve gotta get up, so Slipstream can move you!¡±


    In between gasps for breath, I asked ¡°What about the civvies?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll get them, I-¡±


    The boy who had first talked spoke up. ¡°Psst, hey. Not to interrupt your moment, buuuut-¡° He gestured to the area, where my team had been easily, viciously dispatched. Hallow lay on the ground, his mouth wide open, seemingly in shock, as a short, black-haired girl cackled, standing next to him, as the shadows next to her seemed to fluctuate oddly. I couldn¡¯t quite make out what was there¡­my vision was fading fast. Slipstream wasn¡¯t anywhere nearby, and Ramshackle was sitting still, slack-jawed, as a girl in a full white dress sat next to him, a hand on his shoulder.


    The boy who had shot me, Bang, walked over and aimed his finger at me and Loophole again. Both of us flinched, though my eyes were blurry, and I really only sensed the threat.


    ¡°So.¡± The first boy said. ¡°I could give the order. Kill you now. I¡¯d say that was a solid victory, we could just sort of¡­claim this place. But that¡¯s boring. Really, really boring. We¡¯re here to make a statement. See, the public, and the heroes, are always going on about these Arrays. Groups of young heroes, the bright future! And it got me thinking. Why can¡¯t there be that, for villains? So that¡¯s what we¡¯re here to do. Call us Pact¡­or, the first one, really. The first pact between villains. So we aren¡¯t going to kill you, not because we can¡¯t, or because of some moral code, or even for a sense of pride. It¡¯s so you can be our punching bags. You¡¯ll be our training to be full-fledged villains, instead of the other way around.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re insane.¡± Loophole spat.


    ¡°Pff, that¡¯s what you¡¯d like to think, how you¡¯ll rationalize it. But really, I just have a different view of the world.¡± The boy smirked. ¡°Well then, I¡¯d say this was enough witnesses for the sudden and complete defeat of the New Delta Array.¡± He waved at the civilians. ¡°You¡¯re free to go and spread this information. Ta-ta!¡±


    They scattered. With that, the boy nodded, and leaped up onto a crate, then onto a shingled rooftop. His team followed close behind.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll meet again. After all, we need to improve¡­be seeing you.¡±


    I blacked out.

 1.2: Fianchetto

    New Delta High School


    June 5, 9:51 A.M.


    My brain was fuzzy as I tried to pay attention to the words the teacher was spouting. It was futile in the end. I knew this stuff, after all. As I lounged back in my chair, Mrs. Peser glanced my way and waggled her pointer.


    ¡°Well, Roman, would you like to answer a question, seeing as you¡¯re so relaxed right now?¡±


    ¡°Eh,¡± I shrugged, ¡°I¡¯d rather not. But if you want¡­¡±


    A few kids snickered, more because they knew what was coming than to laugh at my joke. Mrs. Peser slapped my desk and snarled, ¡°Tell me. Where do an Amp¡¯s powers come from?¡±


    She was trying to trick me, asking a question that didn¡¯t have a certain answer. Sure, there had been speculation, but nobody had a way to confirm anything. I sighed. ¡°That¡¯s a highly debated topic, but most people think they are a gift from God, giving us the power to change our futures. But of course, some people use those powers for evil. Hence, villains, and heroes to stand up to them.¡±


    ¡°Hrm. Well. I don¡¯t disagree, but you didn¡¯t cover nearly enough points. Class, turn to page 214. We¡¯ll be looking at Professor Detlan¡¯s theory on powers, and how they may be a genetic mutation due to the nuclear war. Now, if you¡­¡± I tuned her out and rested my hand on my cheek, peering out the window.


    The sun was shining, and I could see a few students who were on their lunch break. I had mine after this class, though it seemed as if it would never end. It looked like a nice day too¡­I wonder how it¡¯s possible for the people who ordain schools to not understand the innate desire to be moving, doing things. Not sitting in class, hearing information spewed at us that we all already know. Literal superheroes exist, after all. What kid wouldn¡¯t spend time learning about them? The existence of this class was basically pointless.


    When the bell rang, I quickly hopped up from my seat and made a beeline for the hallway. Thankfully, Mrs. Peser was occupied talking to another student, and didn¡¯t notice me leaving, otherwise I imagine I would get really chewed out. I paused as I entered the hallway, waiting for my friend, Isaac, to make it out as well. He was a bit slow to leave a class, meticulously putting away each paper in his binder. Yeah, he¡¯s a nerd. But it¡¯s not all that bad, we get along just fine.


    He exited the room, and I grinned at him. ¡°Exciting class, huh?¡±


    ¡°Sarcasm doesn¡¯t befit you, Roman. But yes, it was.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s the point, anyway? We know most of this stuff¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really here to make the adults feel better about themselves. Make sure we kids know how dangerous the world is nowadays.¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡± We made it to the lunchroom and took seats in the left corner of the room. Both of our families packed us lunches, so we had no need to stand in line.


    ¡°Hey guys! Did you hear about Alex Fei?¡± I glanced up to see our other friend, Penelope, walk over to us.


    ¡°No¡­? I don¡¯t even know who that is, Pen.¡±


    She tossed a quick frown in my direction for using the nickname, then sat down next to us and started chattering excitedly.


    ¡°Okay, so apparently a few of the guys on the football team were beating him up-¡±


    ¡°If this ends in a suicide, I really don¡¯t want to spoil my lunch,¡± Isaac said quickly.


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s nothing like that. He was getting beat up, and then suddenly Sam bursts in, starts taking them down. And then, all of a sudden, Sam¡¯s punches start not hurting the guys, and Alex starts getting bruises, while just sitting there!¡±


    ¡°So, he awakened a power?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Right! He¡¯s in my Amp 101 Class, and he wasn¡¯t there today, so I wonder if he¡¯s gonna join the Array!¡±


    ¡°Man,¡± I sighed, ¡°If only that was me. Imagine it, being able to skip school, just be a hero all day. I¡¯m so jealous!¡±


    Isaac shook his head. ¡°Trust me Roman, you may think it¡¯d be exciting, but imagine the danger you¡¯d be in, basically all the time!¡±


    ¡°Nah, New Delta is totally safe. We have like, two villains that occasionally commit small-time robbery. Besides, having a power would be way better than not having one!¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Penelope said, ¡°Think about Alex. His power is taking hits for other people. That sounds pretty awful to me.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± I frowned. ¡°But still, it¡¯s a power. Shouldn¡¯t it work for you? Not the other way around?¡±


    We all sat in a contemplative silence for a bit, as we continued eating. Suddenly, the school bell began ringing.


    ¡°Hey, what gives?¡± I complained, ¡°Classes don¡¯t start for another ten minutes!¡±


    All around the lunchroom, students glanced around, confused. A few started packing up, when suddenly, an announcement came over the loudspeakers.


    ¡°Students, please find the nearest teacher and stay near them. Follow lockdown procedures, there may be an intruder in the school.¡±


    Isaac¡¯s eyes widened, and he started breathing heavily. I quickly patted his on the back. ¡°Hey, bud, you¡¯re fine. They said maybe, it¡¯s probably a false alarm. No worries.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Penelope chimed in, ¡°Right! Let¡¯s find a teacher, it¡¯ll be safer that way.¡±


    Isaac calmed his breathing down as we made our way towards Mr. Silas, the nearest teacher. He barely gave us a glance as we joined the group of kids crowding around him, and kept glancing around the room, as if he was expecting a monster to leap out from any corner or shadow.


    He wasn¡¯t looking at the main door to the lunchroom, but I was.


    As the door creaked open, I wondered how the same action of opening the door could be so terrifying when an intruder did it, as opposed to when I watched a random kid do it. It made no sense.


    Three people waltzed into the room, wearing fancy costumes. Amps. But not ones I recognized. Had they just recently arrived at New Delta?


    The middle one, obviously the leader, wore a domino mask, allowing his mouth to still be seen. His costume was weird, a black and white jester¡¯s outfit with what looked like black and white plant decals. It didn¡¯t ring any bells for me. He was about my height, with short black hair. He instantly swept the room, taking stock of everything way too quickly. He was far scarier than either of the two next to him. Still, looking at them, I could see why. Two girls, one of them not wearing any costume but a facemask, one you might wear to stop a viral infection. Her clothes were raggedy, and she was staring blankly at the ground beneath her feet, practically soulless. The other girl was dressed in a black dress, with a fancy mask that wrapped around her face like shadows. Her hair was black, long, and only added to the dark and shadowy theme. Still, she was short, and very skinny. None of them cut an imposing figure, but I figured the leader was the one to watch out for. He scanned the room too fast to have comprehended what he saw fully, and yet he had a satisfied smirk playing on his lips as he turned his gaze to Mr. Silas.


    ¡°Oi there, Teach. Pretty bunch of students you¡¯ve got here.¡±


    Mr. Silas¡¯s voice shook as he responded, ¡±Wh-who are you? Wh-what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m impressed by your ignorance. I thought we made a nice statement a few nights ago. Guess those heroes didn¡¯t want to let their incompetence get out too quickly.¡±


    The shadowy girl giggled. ¡°And we didn¡¯t even have these costumes when we beat them up!¡±


    My eyes widened, and I glanced over at Penelope. These guys had beat the Array? They were supposed to be pretty strong heroes, so how did these three do it?


    ¡°Well now, don¡¯t boost our egos too much Promenade. We have more teammates, but they¡¯re currently dealing with the very same heroes, so we have a nice and easy time here.¡±


    Another teacher spoke up. ¡°I-if you¡¯re going to hurt the children, you¡¯ll have to¡­to get through us first!¡±


    The domino mask concealed the eyes, but not the vulpine smile that came over the leader of the group. ¡°Unfortunately for you, I don¡¯t believe that will be hard.¡±


    The three of them, on some pre-determined cue, started walking forward. We all shrunk back, a fear sweeping over us. These weren¡¯t normal villains, not for New Delta. We were a small city, with few villains, and even less danger. Why were these people here?


    I cursed in my head. If only I had powers! If only someone here did!


    And then my vision was filled, consumed, by the smallest of things. A butterfly. Nobody else seemed to notice it- in fact, when I checked, nobody else was moving. Even the villains. Only the butterfly, whose iridescent wings seemed to be every color at once. It floated down to land on the back of my hand, and I stared at it for only a second, before my eyes flashed white, and the world was moving again.


    What was that? Had there been a power used on me? I tried to shake off the grogginess I suddenly felt, but as I glanced around the room to try and find the perpetrator of this strange scene, my head began to fill with words that I hadn¡¯t thought as my eyes landed on the leader, who was still advancing menacingly.


    Ingrain. Power allows him to place thoughts into people¡¯s heads, making them believe they thought that information. Mental shields granted, preventing him from affecting you.


    Shove the two nearest to you forward, distracting the enemies. Rush forward, vault over Ingrain, and elbow backwards. Has a weaker lower back, due to a previous injury.


    In the same breath, a yellow trail appeared in the air, showing me the path that had just been laid out in my head. I shook my head. What was this? What was happening to me? As my vision swam, my eyes darted to the blond girl with the blank stare, almost inadvertently.


    Jabberwocky. Mutated. Can mimic human voices. Hides her true appearance.


    Cannot fight in close quarters. Super speed granted, to escape. Leave the nearby people to die and cover your escape.


    Now a yellow trail led out of the room, showing me the weakest point in a window to smash through it and run away. But this¡­didn¡¯t make any sense. Had I just gained a power? Is this what they were like for everyone? A constant stream of information in your head? In addition, I didn¡¯t feel any superspeed. What was happening? Could I only use the information I was being given to follow the path that my new power was telling me to follow? Well, there was no way I was leaving all these people to die¡­


    Suddenly, information flashed into my head, without glancing at anyone new.


    Enemies entering through windows. Superspeed to make it under a table, reaction time to avoid getting hit by glass shards. Pull the nearest student in front of you, gaining a shield from the glass. Reaction time removed. Move to center of group, short term teleportation granted, superspeed removed.


    The words wouldn¡¯t stop showing me an innumerable number of actions, paths to take, looping through them, telling me in one moment to dodge left, then right in the next moment. How was I supposed to use this? As soon as one power and path came, it went, and another followed. Besides, none of them helped me save Isaac and Penelope, at the very least. This power seemed focused on simply getting me to the best situation I could be in, at least with the current situation.


    Suddenly, just as my power warned, three more villains in costumes burst through the windows, throwing glass everywhere. My body reacted instinctively, pulling on the path my power was currently on. I dived out of the way a second before the glass hit our group, letting the kids closest to the windows take the hit. I glanced up, and saw several students lying on the ground, groaning in pain as inch-long pieces of glass stuck out from their appendages. I felt sick.


    ¡°Right,¡± the leader in the domino mask, Ingrain, if my power had been right, said. ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll be leaving soon. One last thing, though. We need the heroes to feel some real shame, for failing again here. So¡­¡±


    One of the people who had leaped through the window held up his hand in the shape of a gun and pretended to fire it into the bulk of the students. In the same moment, the shadowy girl walked up to Mr. Silas and reached her hand up to his mouth and pulled. He screamed, a choking, wet sound, as what looked like a shadow grew up out of his mouth, human sized. As the girl giggled, pulling this shadow man out of a teacher¡¯s mouth, I heard a slight distortion in sound next to me, and suddenly, the group that had been fake shot at practically evaporated. One second, they were there, and the next, the people in the center of the group were gone, and the people on the outside were missing limbs, chunks taken out of their bodies. Blood flowed, and screams grew. I was in shock, something I had heard about. In situations like this, you go into a state of almost calm. I couldn¡¯t keep from retching, however, when I looked over to see Mr. Silas standing, slack-jawed, as a shadowy version of his stood next to the little shadow girl, who was giggling incessantly, a cruel grin forming her expression.


    Ingrain took a little bow, to what remained of his terrified audience. ¡°Well then. We¡¯ll be on our way. My condolences to you all¡­for having such weak Amps protecting you. Or, failing to, in this case.¡±


    My power let me know I could chase them, gave me an enticing set of powers that it promised could beat them. But I couldn¡¯t focus on that over the sound of crying, screaming, and the sudden stench of death that permeated the air.


    New Delta was not the peaceful city it had been two days ago.

 1.3: Exchange

    New Delta Suburbs


    June 8, 11:22 A.M.


    I felt like dying at the moment.


    Just a few days ago, I had awakened powers of my own, a chance anyone would jump at to take from me. However, nothing about my power was something someone would want.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try one more time. Deep breath, son, and-¡± My dad sliced a knife across his left ring finger, and the second after a drop of blood welled up on the cut, it vanished, completely healed over. I winced as the cut appeared on my left ring finger instead.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stop it, Dad! Every time I try to control this¡­curse, it just fails. I can¡¯t stop it.¡±


    I slumped down on the table. At least I could be thankfully I was an only child and had no little siblings getting themselves hurt and in trouble, in turn hurting me.


    My mom walked into the room with a cup of coffee and handed a second to my dad.


    ¡°No luck?¡± she asked sympathetically.


    My dad shook his head. ¡°We can¡¯t seem to figure it out.¡±


    ¡°Well, what is he going to do? He can¡¯t be a social recluse all his life, just because of this power!¡±


    I shut my eyes tightly. She was, of course, right. But it hurt to hear, more than the cut on my finger. I was destined to either be a pariah or have to endure taking the hits for any and everyone nearby. I at least didn¡¯t seem to have a huge range, the person had to be nearby, so I wasn¡¯t getting hurt when the neighbor¡¯s kid scrapes his knee, unless I happened to be walking by at the time.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, dear. But hey, Alex, buddy, don¡¯t worry! We¡¯ll figure this out, okay?¡± My dad ruffled my hair, and I forced a smile.


    ¡°Yeah, for sure Dad. We¡¯ll figure this out.¡±


    ------- -------


    A few hours later, I lay slumped in my bed, reading a comic. It was one of the newer ones, comic writers taking real life inspiration to write more exciting stories, seeing as nobody would really care about Spiderman when there are real heroes out there. Limitbreaker Issue #21: Reached His Limits?! was nothing special, though. Limitbreaker was probably the best-known Hero Errant around, being the de facto leader of the Ten-Pointed Star, the Hero organization that kept the world together after powers started appearing. They were the people who first came up with the classification system for Amps, created Arrays to train teams of young people who got their powers, and knighted the first Hero Errants, the big names of the Hero world. Everyone dreams about getting their power and rising through the ranks to become a Hero Errant, a gallant savior of the world.


    Then again, it¡¯s not like I could dream about that anymore. My power wasn¡¯t exactly suited to being a glamorous superhero. Save that for the people who got actual good powers.


    I tossed the comic into a pile near my door and rolled over, staring out my window. Maybe it wasn¡¯t so bad. A lot of people recounted having a hard time controlling their power when they first realized it. Maybe, in a while, I could rein my life back in, be a normal person.


    My thoughts halted when I saw the black limousine pull up to my parent¡¯s driveway.


    I sat up and watched through the window as my dad opened the door. I couldn¡¯t hear what they were saying, and opening my creaky, old window would definitely alert them. Speaking of ¡°them¡±, out of the limousine stepped a sharply dressed young man, maybe 20, wearing sunglasses and looking like he could shout ¡°Get down Mr. President!¡±


    As he and my dad talk, my dad grows more and more animated, before both men stiffen, and stop talking. Then, after a few minutes, my dad walks back inside, not closing the door. I quickly roll away from my window and grab a book from my desk, flipping it open just as I hear a knock on my door.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I called out, trying to steady my voice.


    ¡°Hey sport, someone wants to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sure Dad, be right there!¡±


    I let my book slip from my fingers and take a deep breath. Something seems unnerving about this whole situation, but what can I do? I walked downstairs, and the man and my dad look at me. The man doesn¡¯t smile.


    ¡°Alex Fei. My name is Roger. My boss would like to speak to you.¡±


    ¡°Heh, um, I mean, I haven¡¯t done drugs or stolen anything, I think you might have the wrong guy.¡±


    The man gives an imperceptible shake of his head, ¡°No. He wants to talk to you about your power. We can help you.¡±


    My eyes widen in shock. ¡°You can? How?¡±


    The man just nodded and gestured towards the limousine. I look at my dad, concerned.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you Alex,¡± he says quietly, ¡°But I think it could be worth a try.¡±


    I could tell that I don¡¯t really have a choice here. Whatever happened to my dad must have been this guy¡¯s power, or maybe his boss. They don¡¯t seem immediately malicious, but I¡¯d be willing to bet that if I refused this offer, they would be.


    ¡°Wait, one question. This isn¡¯t like, a ploy by those villains, right? I heard they hit the school, and have defeated the local Array recently¡­you aren¡¯t working for them, right? I don¡¯t want to be an example for scaring people by getting killed.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the man said, ¡°We are not connected to Pact in any way.¡±


    ¡°Right. Well, I guess I¡¯ll see you later Dad.¡±


    He nodded and gave me a reassuring smile as I stepped into the limousine, and the door closed without a sound.


    ------- -------


    We pulled up to a large industrial factory building, surprisingly enough. Despite having not said anything the whole drive here, as we stepped out of the car, I mustered up the courage to ask, ¡°Um¡­why are we here? No offense, but this doesn¡¯t look like what I was expecting.¡±


    ¡°Looks can be deceiving,¡± an unfamiliar voice responded.


    I quickly glanced up to see an old man, bent over a cane with a tiny silver brain as the handle of the cane. He had small spectacles and wore an oddly monochrome suit, much more worn than the suit the young man had on. He had a thin layer of grey hair receding from the top of his head that barely covered his exposed head.


    ¡°Take me for an example,¡± the old man continued. ¡°I may look weak and am in fact very physically flimsy. But my mental strength, and the capital I control, more than makes up for that. Or you, Mr. Alex Fei. You don¡¯t look like the type to have such an interesting power, and yet here you are.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I heard you could fix me, make my power work for me, right?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. Follow me.¡± The old man turned and walked into the factory through a small side door, and I quickly made to follow, only sparing a glance back at the younger guy, who seemed to be on a phone call.


    ¡°Alex, my boy, do you know what is the most important thing in this world? It is not money, nor power, nor women, nor even a superpower. All of these things are useful, pleasurable, and so on. But without control, you cannot properly have and use these things.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying I need control over my power? How can I do that when we don¡¯t even know where these powers come from?¡±


    He nodded, smiling. ¡°And there is the problem. Since powers first started appearing, many brilliant minds, including some Amps with powers related to learning and deciphering, attempted to figure out where these powers come from. But nobody seems to be able to find it. A well-kept secret of the universe, if ever there were one. But while we haven¡¯t discovered where they come from, we have learned some very important things about powers. However, those scientists were too scared to test their theories. They were afraid of the power they could unleash. But here, we are not afraid.¡±


    ¡°So what have you learned?¡± We entered a long hallway lined with metal. Oddly enough, it seemed to stretch a lot further than the building looks from the outside, and I could hear cheering from far away. ¡°Is it something that can help me?¡±


    ¡°Well of course, why else would you be here? There is only one reason people come to the Skull Ring, to strengthen their powers.¡±


    ¡°The¡­Skull Ring?¡±


    We reached the end of the hallway, and the doors creaked open to the sound of a girl screaming loud pop music lyrics, the noise blaring from speakers in various corners of the room in such a way that the lyrics blended with the constant crushing tide of words from the crowd, along with more huge speakers pumping out enough bass to shake parts of the floor, and cheering from all directions. Neon lights flickered on and off from random directions, and everywhere I looked, skull insignias were plastered on the walls, floors, chairs, the clothing of the people who walked around handing out drinks and food to various people sitting on bleachers and chairs that were spread in an impossibly sized room that couldn¡¯t possibly exist in the building we first entered. Trash and dirt littered the floor, and the people were grungy and seemed to be a stark contrast to the well-dressed servers, and the old man with me. In the center of the room, a sandy pit caked with old blood and fragments of weapons and bone alike was the focus of everyone, as two people brawled in the center of the pit.


    The first one, a tall guy with gangly limbs and black hair, stood still, taunting his opponent, a short kid about my age who opened his mouth. The old man covered his ears and said, ¡°You may want to cover your ears for this.¡±


    As my hands closed over my ears, I caught the start of a shriek, the sound of a thousand pots and pans banging together while scraping down a chalkboard, and I winced. It only added to the general noise and disquiet of the place, and I felt extremely out of my depth.


    The shriek disoriented the tall man, who stumbled back and forth as the kid leapt up and delivered a solid kick to the man¡¯s head, letting out a loud crack that resounded across the room. The crowd jeered, a unified sound cutting through the cacophony for a split second, before the tall man got back up. Without warning, the man starting ricocheting around the arena, moving too fast to follow, and seemingly without the man¡¯s control, he slammed his body into the kid, sending them both slamming into the sand with a crash. When the dust settled, the man stood up, holding a bloody fist in the air. The crowd roared it¡¯s excitement at the winner, and two men came over to pick up the kid and carry him off, while an announcer walked over to the tall man.


    ¡°Corkscrew with his third win! He¡¯ll be moving up to the Silver League now, playing with the big boys! Or at least, the big boys to him.¡±


    The crowd laughed raucously. It wasn¡¯t even that funny, how many of these people were drunk, or high? I shook my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how this is going to help my powers grow.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­let me tell you, when I first met him, that Corkscrew could barely move under his power¡¯s influence. After some training and a few bouts in the Skull Pit, he¡¯s grown to be a force to be reckoned with. We can do that for you too.¡±


    ¡°In this place? Sorry, but it¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Disgusting? A ravel? Absolutely, but that¡¯s why we have it this way. Vicious, bloody, grimy¡­it¡¯s perfect to bring out the full extent of your powers.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­my parents wouldn¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°We can take care of that, m¡¯boy. Trust me, this is what you need. After a few weeks here, you¡¯ll be strong enough to do whatever you want around your parents, but until then, I have a man who can duplicate you. You¡¯ll stay here, train, and your clone will live your life as normal.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Seems too shady, sorry. How can I be sure you aren¡¯t just going to, I dunno, harvest my organs, or something? I¡¯m out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just going to deal with your power crippling you all your life?¡± The man inquired.


    ¡°I¡­yeah. It¡¯s better than this.¡±


    I turned to leave, but two burly guards blocked my way.


    The old man walked to stand next to me. ¡°Sorry m¡¯boy. We can¡¯t let an Amp slip from our grasp that easily. I¡¯m going to have to ask you to stay¡­just a bit longer.¡±


    I glanced at him, concerned, but something about the way his head swayed, his eyes swirled¡­I felt like I was staring into the face of a snake, or even a dragon. It was...hypnotic...

 1.4: En Passant

    New Delta Suburbs


    June 8, 12:43


    School was canceled for the foreseeable future. It wouldn¡¯t have made much difference if it was happening, though. I doubted anyone would show up, for fear of getting killed just by returning. It wasn¡¯t something anyone in New Delta knew how to deal with. We had always lived in a safe city, with few villains, and competent enough heroes to deal with them. But now, when Amps more powerful than our heroes arrive, our city crumbles.


    As I shuffled across someone¡¯s lawn to get to the sidewalk, I shook my head and tried to think of something else, but inevitably, thinking about Pact lead my thoughts to myself, and the inexplicable new power I had been granted. I glanced down at my hands and clenched them tight to stop them from trembling. I could hear the screams of the people caught in the shattering windows, the strange invisible destruction¡­I didn¡¯t even know if my friends were alright, seeing as I lost track of them after the attack started, and ran home as soon as I could. It had taken a whole day of staying in my room, using the terror of the attack as an excuse, to get over my actions. My power had basically sentenced people to their deaths, people I knew. Kids who had futures, and had lost them, just like that. I suddenly regretted ever wanting superpowers. This world wasn¡¯t one I wanted to be a part of.


    However, I had no choice. There was no way to turn off my power, it was constantly telling me how to defeat the people around me. I had taken to avoiding my family as much as possible, just to stop hearing how easily I could snap my sister¡¯s neck, or how the chair could be used as a blunt weapon to easily defeat my family. The type of horrible thoughts that one gets for a split second before brushing them off as random thoughts spurred by some subconscious realization had become my every-day thoughts. Walking was an easy way to avoid most people, as the streets were practically empty at the moment. I knew my parents were worried for my safety, but I couldn¡¯t just tell them I had a power, and that it was telling me how to manipulate and kill them. Either way, unless the entire Pact came at me, I was pretty confident I could get away, as long as my power cooperated. Which led to now.


    I was alerted by my power to somebody following me, with a murderous intent. A few minutes later, it was two, and then three.


    Slow down. Pull out phone, pretend to check texts. Wait for the sounds of the assailants moving close enough to spin around and kick one in the chest, throwing him into a second. Move into a punch to the third¡¯s gut, and stomp on the hands of the two who had fallen down. Minor super strength granted, in order to avoid knives located on bodies of assailants.


    My head spun. Knives? These guys really did want to kill me! I had no idea what they looked like, just that they were there, so I couldn¡¯t tell who they were, or why they might be after me. Regardless, if they actually were trying to harm me, I guess it wouldn¡¯t hurt to use my power. Still, crushing their hands¡­it seemed a bit extreme. Maybe I would avoid that part and use the rest to escape.


    My thoughts settled, and I mentally nodded. It was time to try this. I slowed down and pulled out my phone, opening a search engine and scrolling aimlessly, occasionally pretending to tap and type out a message. As I did, a yellow glow appeared around me, showing the path to follow with my body, and I felt my muscles expand slightly. My body felt obviously stronger, but it was an odd feeling, a swell in my biceps that felt unnatural.


    Suddenly, I heard a faint scrape behind me, and my power shouted wordlessly in my head. I spun my body around and slammed my foot into the chest of a rough-looking punk holding a rusty switchblade. His leer quickly dissolved into a grimace of pain, and I heard an audible crack and I slammed his body into the body of a second guy, who was much pudgier and instantly lost his breath as his friend slammed into him.


    ¡°What the- hey!¡± the third punk yelled, pulling out a knife and charging me. My mind was now emptied of any worries. I was just following the patterns, like playing a rhythm game. I side-stepped the knife and slammed my fist into the guy¡¯s chest, eliciting a grunt of pain as he started falling. As he was in midair, my power suddenly changed the rhythm, showing that I would need to knee him in the same space I punched to make sure he stayed down. Before it had finished changing, my body was moving, causing a sharp cry of pain from the guy, who crumpled to the ground, whimpering.


    That was the end of it, I thought. But my body moved on its own, crushing my heel down on the hands of the other two guys, causing the fat one to scream in pain. My eyes widened as I ground my heel into the backs of their hands, my body practically moving out of my control.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°P-please,¡± the pudgy man whimpered, ¡°Stop! It h-hurts!¡±


    I swallowed but didn¡¯t move my foot immediately. ¡°Why were you trying to kill me?¡±


    ¡°I-it wasn¡¯t anything against you! Just that, the boss says we¡¯re supposed to take anyone out if they come near our territory!¡±


    The other guy, who was resisting the pain much better, muttered ¡°Shut up, Kyle!¡±


    ¡°Screw you Bryan, this hurts!¡±


    I frowned. ¡°Territory? This is just the outskirts of the suburbs, what do you mean?¡±


    The guy shook his head slightly, then winced at the pain. ¡°Since- since we know the heroes are chumps, now, a bunch of guys with powers are coming out to claim territory- it¡¯s going to be a war!¡±


    ¡°No war,¡± the other guy snarled, trying to flex his hand under my foot. I ground my big toe into his middle finger, and he grimaced, then continued, ¡°Just hackles raised. Now that they don¡¯t have a common enemy, the Amps are going to start posturing against each other, seeing what they can get away with.¡±


    ¡°But¡¯ I said, ¡°I thought there weren¡¯t any other Amps in New Delta!¡±


    ¡°Pfft, you¡¯re a bloody stupid kid, aren¡¯t you?¡± he chuckled. ¡°They just didn¡¯t show themselves. You only get two options as an Amp, join the heroes of be branded a villain. Our boss told us all about that.¡±


    I shifted my weight and glanced at the third guy to make sure he wasn¡¯t up yet. As I did, I considered what I had been told. I could take this to the Array, let them know about the threat. But they would probably be able to learn of my power, or maybe they¡¯d be suspicious of how I got the info. And if they learned of my powers, I¡¯d have to join them, or be a pariah, and that would only hurt my family.


    Maybe the best option here was making my own, third option. I grinned as I thought about it. I could be a hero without being tied down to the Array. It¡¯d be exactly what I was looking for as an Amp. The thrill, the heroism, with none of the especially terrifying parts. As long as I stayed out of Pact¡¯s way, I could do my thing, and not get hurt in the process.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± the pudgy guy said pitifully, ¡°Could you take your hand off now?¡±


    I looked back down. I had almost forgotten they were there. I thought about the situation. I had been ruthless. My body had moved out of what felt like instinct, taking actions I hadn¡¯t moved my body to do consciously. And yet, did it matter? These guys had wanted to kill me. What was it to my morals if I hurt them a bit?


    I gave the pudgy guy a kick to the ribs before I walked back home.


    ------- -------


    I spent some time online looking over various heroes from the past, and villains too while I was at it. I wanted to be original with a costume and alias. Not that anything would be completely original, but I wanted to try and stand out at least a little if I ever got famous.


    As I scrolled through the list of heroes and villains on The Amp Wiki, which was a stupid choice for name, I let my eyes slide across the words as they fell into my head, the interesting ones sticking. Plaster, Boom Daddy- Seriously, ¡±Boom Daddy¡±? - Iaspis, Ares, Wasp. The list kept going, but my attention snapped back to Ares. Wasn¡¯t that a Greek god? I leaned back in my chair, trying to remember back to my English class. My teacher had talked about the Greek pantheon, and though I hadn¡¯t paid much attention to most of the mythology stuff, I remembered something being said about a goddess of victory. I typed it into my search bar, and sure enough, there it was. Nike, the goddess of victory. Though I wasn¡¯t a girl, I figured the name sounded unisex. Besides, if people thought I was a girl, all the better. My identity would be even more protected that way.


    Next, for my costume, I searched Greek cosplay. A few results, though nowadays most people weren¡¯t dressing up as heroes or fantastical characters unless they were an Amp. One girl, though, had a whole set of Greek armor she had designed for an Athena cosplay, according to the description. She was selling the whole thing for about 500 bucks. I slid my chair over to my bed and reached under to pull out a plastic bag with my cash stuffed inside. I slowly counted the bills and had about 392 dollars. So not bad, but still not close enough to the costume¡¯s price. I considered for a second, then shot her a message.


    ¡°Hey, would you be willing to lower your price to $400?¡±


    After another few minutes of searching online, a reply appeared.


    ¡°Maybe. Want to get this stuff out of here, so I wouldn¡¯t be opposed. But shipping¡¯s rough these days. Where do you live? Can we meet up, talk price?¡±


    I pushed back from my desk and curled a hand around my mouth contemplatively. She wanted to meet up? I didn¡¯t even know who this girl was.


    ¡°How could we? For all I know, you might live in a different country to me.¡±


    The reply was almost instant.


    ¡°Not a problem. Head to these coordinates, they should be near your house.¡±


    A string of numbers followed, and as I plugged them into the search bar, the map that came up showed an empty building near the area I had beaten up the thugs at earlier. How did this girl know where I lived? I shook my head. This was way too suspicious.


    ¡°Sorry, how do you know where I live? This is creepy.¡±


    ¡°if you want the costume, you¡¯ve gotta come buy it. :)¡±


    After a few seconds of staring dumbly at my screen, another message came through.


    ¡°By the way, I¡¯m only gonna be in town till tomorrow morning. So if you want it, you¡¯ll need to come tonight!¡±

 1.5: Pinned

    The Skull Ring


    June 8, 5:30


    They had a library, and I couldn¡¯t have been happier about it. And besides that, there was a constant itch in my head, and when I scratched it, knowledge came out. I couldn¡¯t properly articulate it if I tried, but I was so much smarter now. Who needed school? This was all I needed, and I would get training for my powers. I was ecstatic.


    The old man had introduced himself as Third Self, which seemed a bit odd, but who was I to judge? After having a friend of his pat me on the shoulder, the friend somehow produced a living, breathing replica of me! It drove back to my parents, and that was that. Third Self then told me to go research a good name and costume design, for when I go out into the ring. Apparently, he even had someone who can manufacture top level costumes for him!


    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure why I was rehashing the memories of a few hours ago, but my mind was moving at such a rate that I wouldn¡¯t focus on something for more than a few seconds before moving to the next idea. I flipped open another book, looking at various images of Greek and Roman gods. Maybe one of those? Except, none of them really fit my power. Drawing harm to myself¡­it was something sacrificial, selfless¡­if not intentional. And gods in mythology cared more for themselves than their worshippers¡­well, most. But naming myself Jesus would have led to a few more problems.


    I heard footsteps behind me and spun around in my chair to sit with my arms hanging over the back of my chair, looking at the owner of the footsteps. It was a girl, maybe three or four years older than me. She was in the process of cleaning her glasses on the edge of her shirt, not looking at me. After properly polishing her lenses, she put the rounded glasses back on her face and noticed me.


    ¡°Ah! Hey! Alex, right? Third Self told me you were going to help me.¡±


    I smiled loosely. ¡°Can¡¯t. Too much to consider¡­so much to think about¡­¡±


    She frowned, and I wondered why the pursuit of knowledge annoyed her. ¡°He said to warn you that he was turning off his power soon, so you kind of don¡¯t have a choice.¡±


    My eyes widened. Turning off the power? No! There was still so much for me to do! I still hadn¡¯t even figured out a name.


    ¡°No, he can¡¯t do that! I¡¯ll go talk to him-¡± Suddenly, I felt my brain empty like a drain absorbing water from the sink it rests in. My thoughts spiraled out of my head, and I felt disturbingly empty. I dropped to my knees, overwhelmed by the sudden quietness of my own head. Trying to remember how I had just felt was like trying to remember something you never knew in the first place. Third Self had mentioned something about that, not retaining the information¡­but I hadn¡¯t expected it would be this bad.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± The girl asked, ¡°I know it¡¯s a bit shocking when you first experience it, but it gets better the more times you use the power.¡±


    I noticed, for the first time, that she had a faint British accent. Odd that my head had ignored that piece of information, in regard to what it was filtering in while under the influence of Third Self¡¯s power. I clenched my fists and pushed myself off of the ground, standing up. ¡°Um. So. You said I was supposed to help¡­you?¡±


    ¡°Mhm! I¡¯ve got a place to go in a bit, and he didn¡¯t want a¡­¡± she smiled, ¡°valuable asset like me to just go and be out in the rougher parts of town on my own. Isn¡¯t he thoughtful?¡±


    I grimaced slightly, unnerved. ¡°Uh¡­sure. So, what, I¡¯m your bodyguard? He realizes I know like, nothing about fighting, right? My power doesn¡¯t¡­oh.¡±


    It made sense. My power could take any wounds this girl would receive if we ran into trouble. I was a sacrificial pawn, like I had been imagining for my name. What were other words for that? I pulled out my phone to look it up but froze as I realized the girl hadn¡¯t left yet. My senses had dulled after the exhilaration of the power had so suddenly left.


    The girl cleared her throat. ¡°Right. So. I¡¯ll be back around in like, an hour. Just meet me here, and we¡¯ll go do the job.¡±


    I sighed and nodded. There wasn¡¯t much I could do, at this point. I had committed to joining this group, and while it was worth it if I got that knowledge again, this sort of menial job was reminding me of my last job at a fast-food place.


    ------- -------


    The girl, who introduced herself as Seamstress, had returned with an oddly bulging bag that she carried over her shoulder. When I asked what was in it, she just winked at me and smiled.


    ¡°So,¡± I said as I walked faster to keep up with her, ¡°Where exactly are we going?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    We were in the middle of a field, moving towards the suburbs of New Delta. The sun was just starting to dip below the mountains, so everything was cast in an orange and yellow hue that gave it an almost blood-soaked appearance. The only houses in the area of the suburbs we were headed towards, however, were well known to be run by petty gangs and small-time thugs.


    The realization hit me. ¡°Wait¡­are we going to make a deal with thugs? Does- does that bag have a body in it?!¡±


    Seamstress giggled like a little girl. ¡°No, silly! At least, I don¡¯t think so. He seemed pretty legit online.¡±


    I groaned. ¡°Online? Great, so we¡¯re headed to a shady part of town to meet with your online pal, to give him a bulging bag of unknown¡­stuff. Just what I imagined my night was going to be like.¡±


    ¡°Oh hush, stop complaining.¡±


    Seamstress skipped forward as we reached the edge of the field and giggled again as she waltzed onto the cold concrete mixed with dirt that made up the ground of the suburbs and headed directly to a specific house. It looked very rundown, and I comforted myself with the fact that if anyone lived in it, they were likely too malnourished to try anything funny with us.


    I walked ahead of Seamstress and pushed the door open. She grinned. ¡°Wow, how reliable! Just like a real bodyguard, so strong and careful!¡±


    I rolled my eyes and walked inside. ¡°It¡¯s clear, come on in. Your guy¡¯s not here yet, though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a-okay! He seemed a little unsure, and I told him I would only be around tonight, so it should work out just nicely. We might have to wait a bit, though.¡±


    I gave a curt nod and sat down on a stack of carboard boxes that lay covered in thick layers of dust and cobwebs that told me more about this place than I would have liked to know. After all, what kind of psychos like spiders?


    ¡°So, mind telling me what¡¯s in the box? What all of this is about? I¡¯d love to not be left in the dark, as your-¡± I sighed, ¡°bodyguard.¡±


    Seamstress grinned. ¡°Oh, y¡¯know. Just a little gift, of sorts. Guy wants an old costume I made for an Amp that joined us, and then tragically died in his first Ring fight.¡±


    I shuddered. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it, but from what I had seen, people were ruthless in the Skull Ring, fighting and killing without any care for their opponent. I was really going to have to step up my game to even survive long enough to use that knowledge again. Or maybe I could convince Third Self to let me use the knowledge while I was fighting. I was sure it would let me see exactly what my opponent was doing. After all, it made me feel practically like a god, so why wouldn¡¯t it let me move like one, too?


    An hour, and then two, passed with relative silence. Neither of us had much more to say to each other, and I simply waited, hoping this guy would show up sooner rather than later. I didn¡¯t want to be hanging around when a gang showed up to smoke or do drugs here, thinking nobody else would be around to catch them.


    Near 8:45, I heard a sound echo into the room, as tentative footsteps rang out from the back entrance to the building. I glanced over, standing up and motioning for Seamstress to step back a few paces. She giggled quietly as she did, and we waited in silence as the footsteps got closer, until a young boy stepped into the room.


    He was taller than me, even though he looked to be about my age. His hair was a light blond, with the tips dyed a faded orange, as if he had forgotten to reapply the dye in the recent weeks, giving it a similar effect to the setting sun I had witnessed earlier today. He was dressed in a dual-colored hoodie with jeans and a t-shirt and looked decidedly uncomfortable to be in the building. His eyes snapped to me, Seamstress, and then to examine the room with alarming precision, showing just how cautious he was being. He then glanced at Seamstress.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who told me to come here, right?¡±


    ¡°Mhm!¡±


    He flicked his eyes over to me and glared at me. ¡°And who¡¯s this?¡±


    Seamstress brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. ¡°My bodyguard! Can¡¯t let precious clothes like these-¡± At this, she shook the bag she was carrying almost gleefully in the air- ¡°go to waste if I were to die or get hurt!¡±


    The kid scoffed. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like much. Doubt he could protect you if I wanted to hurt you.¡±


    I took a step forward, and he flinched. I grinned. ¡°Listen, kid. I don¡¯t think your posturing is going to get you anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Kid?! I bet you¡¯re the same age as me. Actually¡­wait, you look kind of¡­familiar.¡±


    I cocked my head to the side. ¡°Don¡¯t think I know you, sorry.¡±


    Seamstress stamped her foot impatiently. ¡°Can we get on with the deal!¡±


    The kid nodded quickly. ¡°Yeah, sorry. Here¡¯s the money.¡± He stepped forward, pulling out a wad of cash that looked like a couple hundred dollars or so. But as the money was exchanging hands, a knife spun out of the darkness, pinning the bills right in the blank faces of the presidents printed on them, sending the money spinning into a wooden support beam next to me. My eyes shot to the knife, then back to the darkness, where several figures emerged, the front-most one spinning another knife in his hand.


    ¡°Hey there kiddies,¡± The guy slurred his words, as if he were drunk, but his eyes were cold and calculating. ¡°What¡¯s a pretty girl and her¡­acquaintances doing out this late in such a dangerous part of town?¡±


    One of the crooks next to him, a guy with a large purple Mohawk and a wicked-looking switchblade chuckled menacingly and licked the flat side of his knife.


    ¡°Oh come on,¡± the kid who had come to make the deal groaned, ¡°What is it with you weird goons and trying to attack me?¡±


    ¡°Wait, boss. That kid matches the description Kyle and Bryan gave us,¡± A girl with some disturbingly long dreadlocks remarked.


    The leader grinned crookedly. ¡°Huh. So he does. Well, just another reason to get ¡®em. Alright, kill the boys, but keep the girl for me.¡±


    I cringed internally. I may be able to take wounds from others, but that was pointless if they weren¡¯t going to try to injure Seamstress¡­physically. How was I supposed to deal with the four or five gang members rushing at me, all carrying knives?


    The blond kid stretched an arm behind his head and sighed. ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t exactly how I hoped this would go, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised. You two might want to step back, I can¡¯t exactly control how this works.¡±


    I stared at him in confusion. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    He glanced at me and grinned, but I could see in his eyes that he was more terrified than he was letting on.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡±

 0.05: Interloper

    She screamed inwardly, as if she were to vocalize her terror, she would almost certainly die.


    Marissa clung to the knife she had in her hands, her last lifeline to the world, a tether that would certainly not be enough to snuff out all of the men currently searching for her.


    Footsteps sounded closer to her, then further, as someone paced the room she was hiding in. She tried not to breath too loudly, all too aware that it only took one of the men opening the closet in the room to find her.


    ¡°This brat¡­hey, Stanley, anything yet?¡± she heard the man grunt.


    A bit of static sounded from a walkie-talkie, then ¡°Nope. But she couldn¡¯t have left the building, we¡¯ve got one of those Amps making some shield. We¡¯ll find her.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­okay.¡±


    After another burst of static, there was a shuffling of clothes, and then the man remarked to the air, ¡°Well, nothing in here. Guess it¡¯s time to search the ballroom¡­again.¡±


    Marissa let out a quiet breath as she heard the man leave the room. Then her heart stopped as she heard voices from the hallway just outside her hiding space.


    ¡°Hey, Jermey, didja check that room yet?¡±


    ¡°Just did. A desk, computer, and uh¡­that¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°Hm. I¡¯ll double-check for you.¡±


    Marissa¡¯s eyes widened, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stop herself for gasping for breath. She could feel the panic attack coming on.


    The steps of a different man entered the room, walking around the relatively empty space. Then,


    ¡°Hmm¡­what¡¯s this? A closet?¡±


    No. No! Marissa thought frantically. Her eyes darted left and right, trying to find any way to escape the situation. The closet was despairingly empty, and Marissa felt the panic growing in strength as the footsteps grew closer, and closer, until the door slowly creaked open.


    The world froze.


    At first, Marissa thought her life was flashing before her eyes. She had heard that something like that happened when you were about to die. But then the butterfly appeared.


    Floating from somewhere she couldn¡¯t see, it flew past the frozen expression of the man, shocked at what he had found. The butterfly looped lazily around Marissa before landing on the back of her hand, and almost looking up at her as if it was sentient. And then time started moving again. And for just a second, she could see everything.


    The building she was in was old. Decrepit. Mold infested the walls, snaking back and forth through the wooden posts and concrete that made up the structure of the building. Flied, gnats, spiders, and even a snake were lurking in the walls, their pincers clicking as they scuttled around the halls of the building. It had been around for many years, more than she had been alive. There were stories in the doors, the walls, the paintings that lined the walls¡­it had been her home.


    ¡°Hey! Can you hear me? Are you even listening?¡± A slap to her cheek brought her back to her senses, though her brain was still dazed, confused at the sensory overload she had just experienced. She gazed, confused, at the man who had opened the closet door.


    ¡°Listen, girlie. You¡¯ve caused enough trouble as is. Why don¡¯t we make this easy, and you come with me, and everything¡¯ll be okay. Yeah? I¡¯ve, uh, here-¡± He rifled through his pockets before pulling out an old sucker with dust flaking off of the plastic wrapping. ¡°Kids like candy, right? You want this?¡±


    She sat and stared, almost through the man. Her eyes were still filled with the butterfly that had appeared, and she instinctively raised her hand, reaching for what she thought she saw. The man, thinking she was reaching for the candy, went to place it in her hand. She smiled, an empty smile, and the man¡¯s fake smile in return quickly turned to a grimace.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Dropping the candy to the floor, the man went down on one knee, clutching his chest. ¡°Ngh- what did you do- you b-¡±


    His eyes froze, and a peaceful sigh escaped his lungs as he collapsed. Then, something else burst from his chest. Numerous vines with spikes growing from them exploded from the man¡¯s chest, wrapping around the girl and starting to spread out around the building.


    Shouts of alarm came from the dead man¡¯s walkie-talkie, and soon footsteps alerted the vines to people entering the room. As the first man walked in, his eyes widened, and he retched. ¡°What the- augh!!¡± The vines dealt with him swiftly, growing around and into him, until he too burst into more vines, which spread out further, expanding the girl¡¯s reach outside of the room.


    She understood now. It was like a game! She touched people with her vines, and they exploded into more, letting her move around the building even more. It was just like getting stronger in a video game. She was so excited!


    The vines wrapped around a man, who screamed in pure delight as he became part of the game. She giggled and clapped her hands. She was so happy the other people were enjoying the game as much as she was! But then she sensed more people, lots and lots of them, just outside of the building. She had to get them to join in too, but how¡­


    The men were unprepared for thousands of thorned vines to burst from the ground and begin wrapping around them. Even more people screamed in happiness, even the ones who weren¡¯t getting turned into vines. It was the girl¡¯s way of spreading happiness and fun to people, through her game!


    She suddenly winced as she felt a sharp pain in her side. Sending vines to investigate, she found a boy dressed in a fancy suit that made him look like a superhero, like the ones her mother had told her about. He was summoning round disks of blue energy and using them to chop the ends of her vines off. That made her angry. He couldn¡¯t do that! This was her game, not his! So she ordered the vines to not add him to her game. They quickly slithered around him, constricting his arms and legs to the ground, and a particularly thick vine raised above the boy, slamming down onto his body repeatedly, until he finally stopped trying to ruin her fun.


    That was pretty disappointing for a first boss, though. The girl wanted more fun, but everyone here had already been played with, so she couldn¡¯t reach far enough to get at the people she could sense outside of her range. So how exactly was she supposed to get more people to play with her?


    The burning question was answered soon enough when, a few hours of playing around with her vines later, a man stepped into her range.


    A smile grew on her face. Now she had someone to play with her! Maybe she would try and talk to him first, to see what he was like before she added him to the game. Concentrating, she felt a mouth sprout from the vine closest to the man. Then, just for fun, she sprouted a few more, and spoke out of all of them.


    ¡°Hey, mister!¡±


    The man turned and glanced at the mouth. ¡°Well. Look at you, growing so fast.¡±


    ¡°Hey, do you wanna play a game with me?¡±


    ¡°Hm. Maybe. How about you play my game, and then I¡¯ll play yours?¡±


    The girl¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s! What¡¯s your game?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s simple enough, really. I can bring some people to you, but I don¡¯t want you to cause them to erupt like the others. I want you to try and change them. Plant a little vine into their heads and try to move them.¡±


    The man snapped, and someone else appeared, bringing several unconscious people into her range. She frowned. Not add them to her game? Why would she do that? But, it was this man¡¯s turn, so she did as he asked and slithered a vine up their ears, dropping the tip of one inside each of their heads. She tried to avoid the gooey bits that were all grey, they made her feel icky, and the person always flinched too much when she touched them. After she had finished, she thought really hard at them, and they stood up, their eyes dull and mouths slack.


    ¡°Well? How¡¯d I do, mister? Did I win?¡±


    The man chuckled. ¡°Well done. I think you could be very, very strong if you wanted to be.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! Now we play my game!¡± She sent all of the nearby vines at the man all at once, hoping to add his wonderful game ideas to her game as quickly as possible. But the man jumped over her vines, then pulled something sharp and nasty from his cane. He stabbed at her vines until she called out to him, ¡°Stop! It hurts! Why won¡¯t you play my game? We agreed!¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°My dear girl, your talents are wasted on this house. What if I told you I could get you enough people to play your game that you could reach a city nearby here?¡±


    ¡°Ooh! So many people to play! I love that idea! But, when will you play?¡±


    ¡°What about this,¡± the man said, ¡°I will play your game once you¡¯ve played with ten thousand people.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    As the man walked away, she called out once more.


    ¡°Excuse me! Do you know my name?¡±


    The man turned around and scratched his chin. ¡°Hm. Let¡¯s see¡­how about¡­Bindweed.¡±


    ¡°Ooh! I love it! I¡¯m so excited!!¡±


    The man smiled and kept walking until he was out of her range.


    She couldn¡¯t wait! The game was afoot, and she was going to make so many people have fun with her!

 1.6: Promotion

    New Delta Tower ¨C Training Room


    June 8, 11:33


    The punching bag seemed to be mocking me as I swung my fist at it. I winced as a twinge of pain flashed through my left side, or what remained of it, anyway.


    I was off-balance, since I usually didn¡¯t train, preferring to let my power build up kinetic energy in my body as I refrained from using any energy in my day-to-day life. But with the attack of Pact, as they were calling themselves, we all found flaws in ourselves, and devoted our time to training. Everyone was downcast. We had suffered a complete defeat, and it resulted in New Delta¡¯s criminal underbelly fleshing out and starting to spread throughout the city. We were powerless, despite our superpowers,


    I rebalanced myself and circled the punching bag, throwing out jabs and hooks with my hand, trying to get used to the feeling of one side being much heavier than the other, as I had been doing for the past few days.


    And yet, after a few jabs, I stopped, placing my hand against the bag for support. My power made me strong, ridiculously so, but it meant that I didn¡¯t know how to fight very well. And that had come through in the first fight with Pact. My breath started coming in gasps as I remembered the feeling of the flesh vanishing from my side, evaporating from a power I barely understood, a power that had been directed at me, to kill or maim me, and it had worked. I felt weak. Powerless.


    My fist clenched, and with a cry of pure anger, I pulled it back and slammed into the punching bag, sending the full force of my power behind it. The bag flew across the room and exploded into a shower of fluff and leather, covering Mark as he entered the training room.


    ¡°Wow. What¡¯d that bag do to you?¡± he quipped.


    I rolled my eyes over to glare at him. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got visitors.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    Mark grinned and gestured over his shoulder for me to follow as he spun and walked back upstairs. With a sigh, I followed.


    Whatever or whoever I expected to see when we reached the top, it wasn¡¯t two Heroes and a Hero Errant.


    Known as the greatest heroes in the land, Hero Errants were the leaders of Hero teams, something every Hero desired to become one day. You only became one if at least four of the already existing Hero Errants voted to make you one, and it required not only a strong power, but a conviction and mindset that really befitted a true hero. There were certainly nine Errants around the world, and everyone was anxious to see who the tenth would be.


    I had spent hours on the Amp Wiki, researching, so I knew basically all of the Heroes and Errants, so I was able to recognize these three on sight.


    The Errant in the center was Longinus, a tall man wearing a suit of custom armor with his titular spear floating next to him. His hair poked out from the sides of his helmet, which was made in such a way that he looked like a Roman Centurion. He had a short, scruffy beard, and piercing eyes. The Amp Wiki didn¡¯t have info on any of the Heroes powers, other than the ones that had publicly explained their powers, of which there were few. But there was speculation. People theorized that Longinus had some sort of telepathic connection with his spear, which had manifested when his power awakened. It seemed to be able to move fluidly, without him seeming to focus on moving it. He fought alongside it, as if some invisible had guided it. He was crazy strong, being able to take down a lot of high-level opponents by himself. The Wiki theorized he was around an 11 on the 1 to 15 scale of power, but they had no idea what his Threat Ranking could be. Most people theorized he was either a Delta, an Amp whose power originated from themselves and affects objects that aren¡¯t alive; or a Zeta, whose power somehow warps space to affect non-living objects. Either way, he was strong, and his team wasn¡¯t anything to scoff at either. He had brought along Diva, a girl only a few years older than me, tall with perfectly straight blond hair that fell into natural, but unobtrusive curls at the bottom. She was dressed in her signature purple dress, which fell down to just her knees. She had a perpetual smile plastered on her face, though some videos uploaded around the web suggested she broke down occasionally, like the rest of us. She was one of the more mysterious Heroes, with basically nobody even knowing what her power did. She was a mystery, but at least she was on the right side. Many villains with unknown powers were a lot scarier than a Hero with a power she wasn¡¯t comfortable with sharing.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Finally, Tesseract had come along with Longinus, and my gaze lingered on him the longest. Wearing a long, dark blue cloak with a hood that completely covered his face and shadowed him in a blue glow, he stood with his cloak pulled around his body, trying to appear as smaller, not noticed as much. Tesseract was one of the few Amps who had publicly explained his power, because he felt that it could help people. He was classified as a Tau 7, someone who could affect both himself and other living beings with his power. He was able to create artificial body parts, limbs, organs, and more that he could safely implant into people. They all had a core, a cube within a cube within a cube that spun constantly, proving some mythical power from beyond our understanding to the body part. Tesseract connected the cube to the mind of the person he attached the limb or gave the organ to, and their brain did the rest of the work, subconsciously integrating the new body part into their body, making it feel as if the new limb was there all along. It was astounding the number of people he had helped, making organ transplants unnecessary, and giving people with lost limbs a second chance at life. Despite this, he kept to himself for the most part, never showing his face or talking with his real voice, using a voice modulator instead.


    ¡°Sir Errant, it is an honor to have you here in our base,¡± Mark said formally. ¡°Would any of you like anything to drink?¡±


    Longinus shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re only here for a short time. I heard one of your teammates lost a limb in a fight with that new villain group, right?¡±


    Before Mark could respond, I jumped into the conversation, taking a step forward. ¡°That would be me. One of the villains had some matter destroying power, probably at least a 9, and-¡±


    Longinus waved a hand in the air. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in the specifics. It¡¯s not my problem right now. Do you want help or not?¡±


    I was taken aback for a second. I had heard, of course, of Heroes growing arrogant or boastful from too many fans, too much fame. But I hadn¡¯t heard of an Errant being this cold to people, especially to me, a member of an Array, the future of Heroes.


    ¡°Yes sir, I do.¡±


    He nodded to Tesseract, who walked over to me and nodded his head towards a side room. In a staticky voice, he said, ¡°It will be easier if there¡¯s less people watching.¡±


    I nodded and followed him into the room, closing the door up to a point, but leaving enough of a crack that I could faintly hear Mark talk to Longinus as Diva stood quietly nearby.


    ¡°What¡¯s¡­all about?¡± Mark¡¯s voice flowed faintly in s Tesseract turned to me. ¡°Alright, now keep still while I work on this. It¡¯ll be about ten minutes of standing still, so I hope you aren¡¯t antsy.¡±


    I gave him a quick smile. ¡°I think I¡¯ll handle it, thanks.¡±


    There was a slight tingle in my side, and I gazed down to see a dark blue glow start to form on my side. I kept my eyes on it and listened back in to the conversation on the other side of the door.


    ¡°¡­none of...concern. Headed¡­Foundling City¡­¡± Longinus¡¯s voice was almost too deep to make out.


    ¡°Then why¡­here?¡± Mark¡¯s reply came.


    ¡°Heard¡­Pact. Wanted to¡­them.¡±


    I grimaced. Wanted to what? Attack them? Learn about them? This was frustrating. I glanced back down, seeing my new, blue arm slowly forming down my side. Not much time left. I cocked my head as much as I could towards the door without moving my body. Little came of it, but the next part I heard loud and clear.


    ¡°You want to what?!¡± Mark shouted.


    ¡°Quiet.¡± Longinus said sternly. ¡°It¡¯s¡­top. Don¡¯t question¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­and arrogant. This is¡­city.¡±


    ¡°Learn to¡­okay, kid?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± A third, inhuman voice cut into the conversation, startling me. I looked over at Tesseract, who had his hood facing me. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    I looked down, and sure enough, my arm was there. It was almost a perfect replica of my left arm, save for the fact that it was glowing blue, and seemed transparent, enough that you could see the spinning cubes within. I tried to lift up my hand, but it wouldn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Final step is to connect the limbs. Concentrate, cause I¡¯ll need you helping here.¡±


    I turned to him. ¡°Okay, what do you need?¡±


    He placed a gloved finger on my forehead, and with his other arm, grabbed the wrist of my new hand. ¡°This will be difficult. Imagine your old hand. How it moved. How you swung it when you walked, how you placed it in a pocket. Get the perfect picture in your mind of what your arm was. Is. Then, I¡¯ll connect those thoughts to the core of this new arm.¡±


    I nodded and thought. My arm¡­it wasn¡¯t something I thought about often. After all, not many people direct their thoughts at their arms, or legs. Especially before losing a limb. But now that I had lost a limb, this was surprisingly easy. I had learned pretty quickly to attune my senses to having one arm, though my body hadn¡¯t been willing to cooperate. So I gathered thoughts about my arm, the mannerisms I had with it, the juice packet I had grabbed with it right before the fight¡­and after a few seconds, Tesseract said, ¡°Done.¡±


    He stepped back from me, letting go of my new arm. ¡°That was pretty fast, nice job. Enjoy your new arm.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Thank you so much.¡±


    ¡°Just doing my job with what I¡¯ve been given.¡± He stepped out of the room, returning to his team.


    I took a deep breath and lifted my new arm. It felt¡­natural. Completely natural. Despite the knowledge that it wasn¡¯t my arm, wasn¡¯t the arm I had been born with, it felt the same. I grinned. This was exactly what I needed.


    Grabbing a pillow off of a nearby chair, I tossed it in the air and punched at it with my new arm. The glowing blue appendage went straight through the pillow, sending a small cloud of feathers reminiscent of the punching bag into the air. I grinned wider. Pact wouldn¡¯t stand a chance now. With my confidence and strength returned, I looked around the room, nodded, and then walked off to go grab a juice packet.