Bell's regular morning began as it always did. Two alarm clocks, completely protected from his pillow throwing tantrum. The ring ring ringing that permeated his ears as the morning sun basked his skin, the light illuminating his face as he toiled and tumbled within the sheets, trying to protect himself against their might. But try as he might, and as much as he might throw his pillows across the room, he was simply unable to quell the ringing and was forced to get out of his bed. He went to get the wrinkles out of his shirt as usual, only for it not to be there...instead there was a bushel of tails.

Oh right...maybe I should turn down the AC or something.

Last night, he had made a rather annoying discovery. He woke up twice in the middle of the night very hot. All he had worn was a shirt that was about three or four sizes too big at least, but the issue was his tails. The tails that would be there as he slept, full of fur and such. Furthermore, he could no longer sleep on his back as a result, so he ended up sleeping on his stomach instead.

That wasn't so terrible, it wasn't the first time and he was always a messy sleeper. But the heat. The tails made it so he had an extra fur coat, and when he suppressed them for awhile, his body started to heat up as well. But suppressing them took a conscious effort, which meant he couldn't do it while sleeping anyways. Considering the heat wave, it was quite unpleasant.

Once he was up however, he started to get some more practice in. He had been at this for three days now, and he was making some progress.

First of all, suspenders did in fact work. However, so did keeping the waistbands low. So long as he kept the tailbone spot uncovered, his pants would not fall down from having the waist pushed out so suddenly. This also meant if he had a well placed hole in his shorts and underwear, that would work as well. So long as he wore shirts that were big enough to go past his waist, that wouldn't be a problem, and most of his stuff was baggy anyways, especially the shirts. Hell, he prefered to sleep in just a shirt anyways. It was something he picked up from his mom, helped him feel a bit closer to her so its all he had done since he lost her.

Secondly, through the use of a timer, he learned that with practice, he has been able to keep up the suppression longer, and even made it easier on him. if he got startled, the ears or one of the tails could re-appear, but he found it was quick to put them back away then when all the tails were out. However, it still felt better for him to not suppress it at all. While everything else seemed to get easier with practice, it still felt like he was wearing someone else's skin. He would just have to adapt for school, and take breaks when he could. Unless of course he found a way to return to normal, or a better solution.

At the moment, he is able to go for about an hour fifteen to an hour thirty before he had to take a few minutes for a break. Perhaps if he could keep the progress up, he might be able to eventually keep it up for a whole school day, and perhaps even keep it in when he gets startled. He was hoping also that maybe he could find something, his version of kryptonite, that he could wear and suppress his powers. But so far, no luck.

Third of all, his physical abilities were higher when he wasn't suppressing, but even when suppressed, they were better than before. He could scale the sides of buildings and climb things a lot easier, and when not suppressed, he could jump up at least two stories with ease.

But the biggest thing of all was number four. It was also what he was currently having the most trouble with however. And that was supernatural powers. He knew he had some sort of barrier creation ability thanks to what he did during the fight, but there were a few other weird things as well. He sat down on the floor, sitting cross legged and focused on the objects in front of him. At first, it was nothing, but then they began to levitate into the air. He swirled his fingers around in the air, and the objects followed. But it wasn't just that. If he focused on his feet, he could step on walls. Gravity for him was treated as if he was still standing on the ground, so his hair didn't go in weird ways and clothes acted normal too. However, he was having an occasional issue with maintaining it. Thankfully, increased endurance seemed to be a part of his supernatural abilities.

Also, his phone was still at one hundred percent charge. No matter how much Bell used it, it never once went down. It did fall into the sphere with him, so for all he knew it absorbed supernatural energy, but it was kind of freaky.

In the end, he wasn't even sure that was everything, but so far it was all he had been able to gain. However, his mastery over magic was a long way off. Right now, his biggest concern was using it without it hitting him in the face. But there was two issues he still couldn't figure out, and they were quite nasty. His suppression had a one hundred percent chance of failing every time he sneezed, and his suppression would fail if he got too wet. He couldn't keep it up in the shower, and his school had a swim class. Unless he found a way around that, he was doomed. Not to mention showers after gym class as well.

It would also help if he had someone to talk to, but his closest friend was Ruu, and they had only known each other for a year or two now.

There was also his father. He had seriously been dodging any video calls unless absolutely necessary.

"In the end, I feel like I am reaching my limit with what I can learn here. I have been holed up for the past few days, I need to go outside".

There was still those people from the ritual site that were after him, including that one guy. He wanted to avoid him whenever possible. He also ended up encountering The Phantom, as well as the one who he just referred to as The Raincoat Person, or just Raincoat for short.

He had to consider the next time he stepped outside, he would be killed for sure, but...staying inside for the rest of his life was no way to live. So he decided to make an effort for it.

First of all, he took a shower. It always helped him to feel clean, although he was going to have some issues with shampoo. He was using a lot more of it now, and it was insanely hard to shampoo the tail. And he definitely needed to shampoo it. Leaving aside the fact it felt off for him when he didn't, shampooing it had made it easier to suppress by a bit, so this was something he would not back down from.

Secondly, he got on a shirt and some pants and underwear as well this time. He made sure to get a hooded light vest as well, since he discovered if he kept the ears out, it was easier to suppress the rest. By having the hood up, Bell could do that without issue, but if people took too close of a look they might notice so it was only best when no one was really focused on him.

Once he got his shoes and socks on, he went outside and went to take a walk.

"Heya Bell! Ya seen my cat yet?"

"Sorry, not yet. I still have my eyes out though" Bell said, as he went out of the building and headed down the street. It was a sunny day today, so that helped. He had a raincoat for in case it rained. If a shower was enough water, so was a rainstorm. He needed to find a way to get control of his powers, and fast.

This point was further made clear the moment he stepped outside, and the streetlight outside the building turned on. He walked away and it turned off, only for the next one to turn on.

Oh gods, its electricity. I am literally generating electricity. I for some reason developed a superpower that turns me into a walking never ending fountain of electricity. Yeah this is definitely going to stand out in the day time. At least at night everything is already on.

It solved the phone thing, but this was just so much worse now. If this was right, he really would not be able to hide it from his dad. After all, what did this mean for the electricity bill? That was going to be a big fat zero, or maybe they would even get paid instead.

He needed a solution, but its not like could search up online. He didn't have any way to contact anyone who might have answers for him and not try to harm him. Or really even those that did try to harm him. So instead, he decided to go to Core Park.

Core Park was a giant park at the center of the city. It was large enough that it was probably at least a mile long and wide, if not more, and the whole city was built around it. It had a good amount of flat area, but even more hills and trees and bushes. It did have a number of underground connections that would lead to Underworld, and a few playgrounds as well.

The reason he was going here was simple. He intended to find a nice, safe place to try and practice. Thankfully, he knew of a great spot, real hidden, that he and Ruu had gone to in the past. He made his way through some bushes and trees, carefully navigating the area until he found what he was looking for.

"Hmm? Bell?"

And right there was Ruu, sitting in a tall tree with a pair of binoculars. He seemed to be looking off into the distance, but still noticed Bell when he approached.

"Ruu, what are you doing here?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Ah, my parents hit a stalemate with their supplier, so they are managing the store while the supplier works out their issues. As such, I came here to relax and hang out".

"...tsk. Missed my chance".

"I swear, its not intentional you know?"

"That was incredibly unconvincing and you know it. What are you even doing up there anyways?"

Ruu was quite high up in the tree, almost two stories high in terms of height. But he and Bell were natural tree climbers, they had gone higher than that, although Bell's father had specifically told them not to since it scared him like crazy. That said, Ruu always seemed like the better climber even though Bell was more agile.

"I thought I saw a bird of prey, but its nothing major" Ruu said. "You feeling better? If you are still feeling off, I will drag you back to your home myself and sleep over if I have to".

"No no, its fine its fine!"

Ruu seemed to take a few acorns out of his pocket, and threw a few at Bell. "Bombs away!"

Bell moved to dodge, laughing a bit as he shielded himself, before Ruu laughed as well. "Curses, they evaded the bombing!"

"I thought you had more acorns then that?"

"Nah, I did a clusterdrop".

"Thats far too wasteful and you know it".

"Yeah, but it's fun watching them scatter" Ruu said, as he started to climb down the tree. "So what brings you here?"

"I needed to get out. Being stuck at home was annoying, and this is a nice peaceful, isolated place".

"I see. But you know, sometimes it's better not to fight the chaos, but flow with it. That can be as good as peaceful".

Bell looked at his friend. "Coming from you, that feels self serving".

Ruu however, once he got at ground level, got up close and took a good look at his friend.

"You sure your not constipated again? I can look away if you need to relieve yourself".

"First of all, no I don't! Secondly, don't lie to my face. You would try and take pictures of me doing that!"

"Hey, I am not that mischievous! In any case, I myself do need to go. I was kind of up there for awhile. I will be back in like ten minutes, so watch my stuff for me okay?"

Ruu ran out of sight, and the moment he did, Bell released the suppression.

"What bad luck! Wow, that was close. I still have no idea how to tell him about what happened. I really don't want to start from scratch or such".

Ruu was basically his only real friend, as he had so many issues forming connections after his mother died.

Bell was able to let himself relax for a bit, but then he heard footsteps coming this way and quickly suppressed himself. He had wanted to safely practice magic here, but it seemed like that might be awhile as Ruu was pushed into the clearing, by two gang members. They were walking a bit strangely and seemed unusually aggressive, especially since they were trying to rob two kids in the park. That was not exactly

"Alright brats. Time to give us everything you got. And I mean everything!"

"...the fuck are you on?" Ruu muttered to the two hoodlums, giving him a hostile glare.

"We just be on bliss, so do what we say or else" they replied, pointing their guns sideways at them.

"Bliss. Isn't that the nickname of that new drug I heard on the news?"

"Yeah. Apparently it helps nullify pain and increase the senses, but also makes people idiots who do idiotically stupid things".

"Oi, stop talking and get them..."

Before he could speak another word, hoodlum A took a step and suddenly fell over, having seemingly tripped or stepped in a bad way. It was almost like he stepped into an area with much heavier gravity. Hoodlum B meanwhile, seemed to get a severe case of static shock whenever he moved, his clothes apparently shocking him quite a bit.

The first was naturally an intentional move, but the second one came at a shock. Bell had not tried to do that, it was happening on its own. Even the first guy seemed to be getting the shocks as well, but not Ruu.

"Ruu, are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah. I heard on Salem's Sleuths that sunspots might happen today and they thought it might increase static shock chances".

"...thats a terrible source. It's completely unreliable".

"I think you should give them the chance, they might end up surprising you".

"...I suppose I cant actually dissuade them considering what happened".

Bell couldn't help but mutter that even if Ruu likely misunderstood what he meant, but when B went to aim at him, he and Ruu dodged instinctively. Ruu threw an acorn and got lucky enough to hit him in the eye, while Bell threw a large piece of wood at his head. It made contact, and since it had been spinning it had a bit more force then normal, knocking him down and out.

The two boys looked at each other.

"You handled that very well. How did you not panic Ruu?"

"Speak for yourself you know?!"

"Well...honestly I was just in so much shock".

Or thanks to what happened to me and on the subway, my senses have warped.

"Honestly, I wish I could say it was dynamic bravery, but...well, I suppose the guy was high".

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Yeah, I thought you might not notice. Did you notice the lack of a bang when he fired?"

Now that Bell thought about it, there was a lack of one. He looked back to where the bullet would have been.

"....its a BB gun?"

"Yep".

"Well, I guess that's why it didn't feel like it was dangerous".

"Guess you just subconsciously realized it, but not consciously. Just goes to show knowledge is the best weapon".

"...I don't think that makes sense".

No, I am pretty sure my new found abilities and previous experiences are somewhat to blame, although I am sure I was genuinely frightened still.

While thinking that to himself, Ruu went over to them, and used a coin on a string as he made it swing left and right, with his own body swaying as well. It appeared to be some sort of hypnotic act. However, the two did not show any signs of obediance....instead, they just passed out cold.

"...was that supposed to happen?"

"Yes! You don't seriously think I could get them to obey me do you?"

"Even putting them to sleep seems odd".

"Honestly, because of their drug induced state, it was easy. Probably also what got them mixed up with the gun".

Ruu explained it well, but the situation just seemed a bit weird.

"Anyways, if you are going to use this spot for whatever, you might want to make some distance from them to be safe. I should probably be getting back. Try not to cause any trouble okay?"

"I never cause trouble!"

"Arcade earlier this summer" Ruu reminded him.

"I almost never cause trouble!"

Ruu then looked back at him. "And also, I am not sure what you plan to do here, but I don't think you should be so afraid".

The two then said their goodbyes to each other, which meant that Bell could finally release the suppression properly. He made sure there was really no one around this time, and began practicing his abilities. He remembered the shock feeling from earlier, and how everything got kind of staticy. He tried to focus on that, and feel as if it was all around him. It almost felt like something was escaping his body. He tried to make it stronger, wrap it up with threads, and form it into something tangible. And when he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the wonderous sight of lightning everywhere, all around him. Dancing about him, it crackled and winded around as it formed a circle like shape, only with various jagged edges all around.

"Electricity...an electric field. Wait then, could it be...I have been thinking about this from a magical point of view, but what about science?"

Bell paced back and forth, having what he was certain to be a great and grand epiphany.

"If I have an electric field constantly emanating from me, then anytime I get wet, couldn't that cause a short out of the field? Perhaps this also disrupts any suppression I try to do then, like hitting a breaker for an entire house. Or multiple things tied to a subbreaker switch".

If he was right, this would explain why he couldn't keep up suppression when wet. He had a natural electric field around him. It was something like it was shorting him out, or perhaps...it was forcing him to take this form as a way of protecting himself from electrocution?

And as for why the electric field was up...

I don't think you should be so afraid...have I been afraid this whole time?

He was chased by criminals twice, had weird things done to his body, ended up fighting against some seriously dangerous people. And even now, he was being watched possibly. He saw a few bats up on the high branches of the trees.

The bats did not pose any hostile action, but they had moved closer for a bit when the thugs attacked him. For some reason, they seemed to be protecting him. He had kept an eye out at the apartment, but they never showed up there, at least that he saw. He guessed they had found him when he entered the park. Which probably meant the figure in the raincoat was nearby to.

If they wanted to talk, they would have approached me by now though. Considering they helped me in the subway, I suppose they might be a friend. Or at least, someone who is potentially a decent person.

It was getting into the territory of pure conjecture there though. He decided instead to think about suppression. If he was right, and water was only a weakness because he had an electric field around him, gaining control of his electric based powers was the first step. if he could control it, he could keep it off, and that meant that one of his weaknesses would be eliminated.

And Ruu had given him one answer about why he was having difficulty with control. He would have to really help Ruu out the next time he needed it, as he seemed to always be giving him good advice he could use.

But that means, I need to conquer fear. Easier said then done.

Bell figured putting himself into dangerous situations wasn't it. But he had to do something. He thought back on everything Ruu said. Ruu was very wise, so he thought back to it all, in case he mixxed something.

Knowledge is the best weapon, huh?

That bit stood out to him.

"Perhaps what I need to do then...is learn? I am afraid because I dont understand what is going on with my own body, or the situation that I am in. So I need to learn about it. Learn about the supernatural, the truth of this world, everything. He now had a real, tangible, solid goal. However, that did not change the fact that he still was not quite sure where to start.

The criminal organization was probably something the police might have records on, but he didn't know enough to identify them. The library and book store would have books on mythos, but sorting through them all would be painful and their reliability questionable.

And then it hit him. The ritual site itself. He could remember the symbols clearly in his head, so he quickly opened an app on his phone and began to draw them all as he saw them. If he searched online for these symbols, he might just stand a chance of finding a lead or a clue that he could use to learn something. Legends and tales, and the civilization itself that the symbols were believed to be linked to.

He then did a run up to find them, but the results were not quite what he expected. In terms of language, it appeared it wasn't recognized at all. Not a single hit to tell what civilization it was from, what language it was, or what legends he could narrow in on.

But he did get a hit, and for here in the city no less. According to an image search, several of the symbols were used as decorations in a shop. It was just called Maybell's Emporium and Services, and seemed rather shady. However, the symbols were perfect. Furthermore, there was another thing that caught his eye as well. Something that he couldn't help but notice.

In the picture they had up for their poor excuse for a website, there was a bat hanging right out of the window. He looked at the bats that were watching him.

"This is as good of a lead as I will get I think. Next stop, Maybell's Emporium".