Web of Power Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1

Look here. I never meant for that to happen. I never meant for my powers to get the better of me. It’s just that, well, it was so strange that I couldn’t.

I was sitting in class one day. It was a Friday, which meant that I was going to be free in a couple of hours. Senior year, last semester. A superhuman was giving a guest lecture in my criminal justice class about apprehension of other superhumans. Bog standard stuff.

The superhuman in question was a local hero who worked with the Antimony, Nebraska hero station. He was wearing his bulletproof vest and had his riot helmet beside him, underneath his arm.

What, did you think superheroes wore stupid costumes that did more to blind the eye than protect their important bits? Of course not. Any sane superperson would put on that bullet proof vest and riot helmet. There’s a reason why public servants have uniforms. I don’t know where you got that idea.

So Hero Jake—Hero being the same as “officer” in this context—pointed his laser pointer towards the PowerPoint slide.

“In case you were wondering, a violation of the Superhuman Code amendment seven does not directly equate to a felony under normal citizen law. If a superperson decides to use their superpower in a non-lethal manner that causes less than two thousand dollars damage, they are prosecuted as a petty criminal under classical law instead of the Superhuman code. Article two states that, if the destruction to property or minor injury was not intended as a part of the superperson’s actions, they will be given a minor fine of approximate value to the property they destroyed and the medical bills of those harmed.” Hero Jake shifted his helmet under his arm. His professional blue vest and blue pants shined a bit as if he was sweaty underneath them. His gun on his hip caught my attention. It was a standard police issue. Not that I knew much about guns, but I always felt uncomfortable knowing that there was one right there and that Hero Jake was trained to use it. He also had a taser on his other hip. In fact, the only way to tell that he was a superperson and not a cop was the fact that he had the emblem.

Hero Jake paused. “Any questions?”

My classmate, Aron, raised his hand.

Hero Jake pointed. “You.”

“How can we join the Hero association?”

“It’s a bit off topic, but I will answer.” Hero Jake crossed his arms. “There is a selection process, just like the ordinary police force. However, with superhumans, there are just too many power variations for there to be a standard protocol. If you want to become a professional hero, your power needs to fit a certain standard. And as only one in thirty people manifest powers before the age of eighteen, not counting irregulars, there is only a small chance you will ever be considered.” He paused, putting his hand to his ear. “No. I hear you. Thanks.” He looked at the classroom. “Looks like I’m needed.” He walked out of the classroom.

My teacher, Mr. Ryan, sighed. “All right, class. Today we’re doing a reading on page …”

I was walking through the hallway when he showed up. Big Bryant. Named so because he was six feet tall and three hundred pounds of Asian muscle. Leader of the local Asian gang. He cornered me.

“Look here, kiddo.” He slammed his palm against the lockers, pinning me. “I know you’ve been skipping your dues.”

“Hey, Bryant. I left the Scars a year ago. We had a deal, remember?”

Yeah, I was once this guy’s second-hand man. We were a team, you know? Before the Scars went sour.

“Yeah, and I’ve decided to change the terms. You’re either with us for tonight’s fun, or we’re going to beat the snot out of you.”

I shrunk away. “Look, I just want to be civil …”

Bryant snorted. “You? Civil?” He laughed. “After what you’ve done, Chen. Really? You expect me to believe that?”

“I went straight.”

“Sure you did. I see it in your eyes. You’re still one of us deep down inside. You either pay us the money you owe us or you earn it with us tonight.”

I looked at Bryant’s new right hand man, Asahi. “Come on man. Reason with him.”

Asahi shook his head. His eyes told me everything.

Bryant grinned. “Tonight, my friend, we have a special person lined up.”

“For what?” I turned away. “To rob a bank or something?”

“No.” Bryant’s grin grew. “We’re going to do something crazy. Defeat the Red Devils.”

“A scrap?” I looked him in the eye. “You know you guys can’t win against them. They have two superhumans.”

“And we have one.” Bryant stepped aside, revealing a thin, emaciated sophomore with large glasses. He might have been Korean. “Meet Rar.”

Rar pushed up his glasses. “I calculate a thirty-five percent chance that Chen will join us.”

I sighed. “I’ll join you. One last time.”

Bryant pulled away. “Great. Be at Bill Park tonight at nine. If you skip on us this time, we’re not going to forgive you.”

When I got home that day I put on my Taekwondo uniform and looked at myself in the mirror. A black belt, yeah, but I really didn’t feel like I deserved it. With what I’d gotten up to before I left the Scars.

I ate dinner with my mom that night and, when it was time, slipped out the window to my room. I landed on the lawn in darkness, with only the street lamps guiding me.

Bill Park was a small grass park with a playground that was less than a mile from where I lived. I had played there as a kid and I knew it really well. When I got there the two sides had already formed up.

Bryant planted his fist in his palm. “Let’s do this. You showed up.”

“I was expecting him not to.” Rar’s glasses glinted in the light from the street lamps. The neighborhood was silent. The distant freeway was the only thing I could hear.

The Red Devils were a Hispanic gang that claimed the turf near ours—or rather, the Scars’. I wasn’t a part of that anymore.

“I forgot to tell you.” Bryant’s eyes gleamed. “Rar here is a speed type. He clocks in as much as a professional when he really gets going. Can throw ten punches in second.”

I knew about the two superhumans across from us. Beard, the guy with the rope arms. And Thomas, a guy who could explode bits of metal. As well as their two superhumans the Red Devils were armed with baseball bats, knives, and lead pipes.

We were armed similarly.

Bryant pointed his classic hockey stick at the Red Devils’ leader, Red Hernandez. “We’ve come prepared.”

“You better have.”

We stared off for a second.

Rar moved first, fast, He zipped into the enemy lines and laid flat a Red Devil with a single punch. The brawl started.

Bryant charged in, full force. He swung his hocket stick in huge arcs, taking down several Red Devils in the space of a few seconds.

We lost two boys when Thomas exploded a coin in between them. They fell to the ground, blood coming out of their ears.

“Go after him.” Bryant stood next to me. He pointed at Thomas.

I approached him, dodging a hit from another Red Devil. I punched that guy in the face, breaking a few of his teeth. Shaking out my hand, I continued to approach Thomas.

Thomas flicked a coin up into the air. The coin zipped towards me.

I deflected it with a swat.

“Nice one.” Thomas flicked two coins into the air. “Now catch.”

I charged him, dodging both coins and tackling him to the ground. I was on top of him. I began to whale on him with my fists, throwing up blood with each hit.

And then the cops illuminated the battleground. The light blinded me for a second.

Thomas took the chance and ran away. Before he got out of range, he tossed another explosive coin towards me. I had no time to dodge. It hit me in the head, causing everything to flash before my eyes. I yelled, screamed, and then my eyes went black.

When I woke up I was strapped to a cot in a hospital. Well, not a hospital. It was too drab for that.

I craned my neck up to see a man in a black suit sitting across from me. He looked up from the newspaper he was reading. “Ah, you’re awake.”

“Ahhh …” I closed my eyes. I opened them again. “What happened?”

“I was told you caused a level two event.”

I had to think to remember what that meant. When it hit me I sat up in shock. “Me? Level two?”

“Indeed.” The man in black folded his newspaper and stood up. He approached me. “You turned two patrol cars into pools of metal and glass. You melted the clothes off of three police officers.”

“Did I—Did I kill anyone?”

“No. You gave them quite a scare, but your powers only seem to affect inorganic material. Shame that the only actual cotton the police officers had was on their badges.” The man in black stood at the edge of my bed. “You have been detained under the Superhuman Convention. Please, do not offer any resistance.”

I let my head fall back down to my pillow. “I won’t.”

“Now I heard you had involvement with a petty gang.”

I turned my head, looking at the wall. “I didn’t. This was the last time I was going to associate with them.”

“Well then. You have two choices. Since you owe the government about twenty thousand dollars in damages under said superhuman convention, you’re going to have to find a way to get those funds.” The man in black walked over to the side of my bed and looked me in the eye. “And I have just the thing for you.” He turned around. “I’ll be leaving now. In a minute, he’ll arrive.”

“Who’s he?”

The man in black left the room, leaving the door to swing shut behind him.

Ten minutes later the door opened and an old man walked through. His hair was totally white and he had a wrinkled complexion. He sat down on a stool next to my bed.

“Chen, I presume?” He chuckled. “Of course. Of course you’re wondering who I am.” He folded his arms. “A little story from an old man. Do you know what I was doing this morning? Watching my favorite TV show. Do you know why I had to leave? Because of you. Because you’re the first atomizer to appear in this country in ten years.”

“Atomizer?” I coughed. “Never heard of it before.”

The old man chuckled. “The name’s Samson. I work for the international hero committee. Small town you live in, eh?”

I shook my head, looking past him. “What’s an atomizer?”

“Someone who can rearrange atoms. Looks like you’re unable to affect organic molecules, but you can affect synthetic things perfectly well.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’ll have a lot of work to do before we settle things here.”

“So I have powers.”

“It amazes me that it is not obvious to you.”

“I know, I understand, but …” I sighed. “Look. I was happy going on my own. Doing things on my own. I don’t want to be involved with this kind of thing.”

“You got no choice, Chen. You either work with me or you serve your time.”

I swallowed. “I’ll work with you.”

“Good choice.” Samson extended his hand. “We start work tomorrow, as soon as you’re recovered.”

“What about school?”

Samson withdrew his hand. “You’ve already got enough credits to graduate.” He got up and walked out of the room.