The night never slept in Luman; its lights were eternal. The city’s sheer size made me feel relief, as if my existence was but another infinitesimal speck of glamour on its mask of allure. Compared to the grandiose of it all, this little date was nothing to be afraid of. At least that’s what I kept telling myself to calm down.
The place was a bit chilly, so I burrowed my hands into my hoodie’s pockets and waited. Eventually, a vehicle pulled up alongside me and the driver gave me quite the deathly glare. But I sensed no real danger, so I didn’t immediately react. The woman scoffed with a small exhale.
“Mom, stop it!” Calanthe’s voice sounded from the passenger seat, where I couldn’t see her. She hurriedly got out and walked around. “I’ll call you, okay?” she said to her mom.
“For a minute there, I was scared for my life,” I jested when she walked over to me.
She had quite a mischievous look in those azure eyes. “Better be scared for your pride,” she boasted, confident in her bowling. Sadly, that confidence was well deserved. She was at home in the bowling alley. I felt like I was up against a professional. I couldn’t say my night was full of humiliating losses; she did let me win a couple times.
Soon, the alcohol put too much of a twist to our wrists’ movements and bowling was out of the question. Instead of continuing the beatdown, we retreated to an empty table and simply chatted, getting to know each other. Calanthe kept glancing at my arm. My shielder was right there, as small as a wristwatch. Eventually, the urge to defy her impetuousness was trumped by her intoxication. Her sky-blue eyes jumped from the shielder on my arm to my eyes and she ogled. “Did you really,” her fingers gripped onto her glass, “do all those crazy things?”
Immediately, I began to feel uncomfortable. For years, even after making strides with my therapy, I avoided meeting new people who might become close to me. I lived in horror that one day, they might be in danger because of their ties to me. In that split second, my mind flashed on David Cennet, a man who brought me to my lowest.
In that moment, an image of a dying Calanthe flashed through my mind like lightning, disappearing as fast as it appeared. That dismal thought imprisoned me with the feeling that I should end the connection before it had ample time to really root itself with me. I laid anxious about any new friends.
“You’re, going to have to be more specific.” I shrugged at her. After years of therapy, I still didn’t know how to talk to others about myself, nor how to start or maintain friendships apart from the few I already had. Part of me was still closed off; part of me was still fearful.
She laughed. “Really? Is taking down a criminal mastermind not the obvious answer?”
I replied with a nervous titter. “I suppose it is. Well, mind if I use the bathroom first?” I asked, hinting to her that it was a long story. She nodded, and I stood up, slowly making my way to the men’s washroom.
I walked along the tiled washroom, bypassing the toilets to get to a urinal. Once I was done, I went to the sink. At that point, three men came in, and the last one in locked the door to the entire washroom. Two of them leisurely surrounded me. A robbery? I thought, seizing them up to look like your common crooks. They wore scars, tattoos, hoodies, and a petty look in their eyes.
Compared to dealing with much more dangerous people, a few muggers seemed like a hassle to simply get over with.
Before engaging them, I dried my hands, all while thinking of the post-fight scene. Were they armed? How far should I go to defend myself? What will the owners do? Will I have to stay and give police statements?
I figured, as long as I showed them that they couldn’t win, and avoided knocking them unconscious, then I should be able to return to Calanthe without any issues. “My apologies. Thank you for waiting. How might I help you, gentlemen?”
One of them pulled a pistol out of his hoodie, then, very calmly, pointed it to the ground, a gesture for me to lay on the ground.
I didn’t account for a gun. At that moment, I froze. There was a hard choice afoot. Fight, or give in?
My shielder, the device strapped to my wrist that projected an impenetrable shield of energy, would make that weapon useless against me. Even bullets wouldn’t kill me even if they hit me, thanks to Vasc, a serum that granted me superhuman regenerative abilities. And, those criminals certainly couldn’t win a physical fight against me, because White, yet another serum, empowered me with greater strength, nerve, and muscle control. I was a walking weapon whether I liked it or not.
Even with all those advantages under my belt, I knew very well that I shouldn’t risk it. But my concern wasn’t for myself, it was instead for the three men robbing me.
The bang of a firearm could very well act as a trigger, which would cause my alter ego, Ban, to take front and control my body. Ban had no interest in prudence, he would definitely kill those men without hesitation. A stupid decision like robbing in the infancy of their adult lives shouldn’t be the deciding factor that ended those lives. No, I was nothing like people with noble ambition and a forgiving heart, but I understood the urge to change one’s life.
I complied with the robbers and laid on the ground. Depending on what they took from me, it wouldn’t be too much of an issue to be the victim and avoid a worse outcome.
They took my wallet and phone, and then, unfortunately, demanded that I handed over my chip-engrained headgear strip. It was hidden by my clothes, but unfortunately it still protruded a little and they mistook it for jewellery. I cautiously pulled the headgear up so the muggers could see. “It’s just a sentimental gift from my sister. No real value, guys.”
My plea went unanswered. The men still wanted the headgear. The wallet I could eventually replace. My phone was the same, given that I remotely locked it. But I couldn’t risk that headgear technology leaving my person. I pretended that it got stuck on my hair as I tried to pull it off, but gave several quick instructions to a TS while it was connected to my head.
Eventually, one of the robbers yanked it off my head when the frustration from his impatience struck him. They calmly exited the bathroom, and I followed a few seconds after. I spotted them making their way out the bowling alley and into the streets.
Unfortunately, I had neither the time nor the wit to lie to Calanthe about why I was hurriedly leaving the bowling alley. I bypassed her without spewing a word and made my way outside to shadow the robbers.
Luckily, the TS made it to the headgear’s location before the three men could even leave the block that the bowling alley was situated on. The robot stopped them from crossing the street. “Please return the items you have stolen,” it said.
The man with the weapon quickly brandished it and shot several times. But those bullets hit the azure energy shield from the TS’ built-in shielder. The gunfire drew eyes like moths to a flame, but onlookers knew better than to intervene. Instead, several phones’ flashes lit up, signalling that people already began recording.
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A short while after, a car’s screeching tires resounded in the distance. The getaway driver sped off. I couldn’t identify the license plate at my position. But I at least saw the make and model, and noticed there was a yellow bumper sticker.
Afterward, the robbers gave up and threw my possessions at the TS’ feet, fleeing the scene before more trouble arose.
“What’s going on?” Calanthe asked. I was so focused on the unfolding events that her sudden appearance startled me. “Why did you just run outsi—”
She cut her question short after seeing the TS’ energy shield. “It’s your robot!” she exclaimed softly, then recoiled a bit. “It is, right? What happened? Are you okay?”
My silence jarred her a little so I finally turned to her. “Well, I was robbed in the washroom, but everything’s okay now.”
“What?” she gasped. “Are you really alright? We should call the police!”
I scratched my cheek. “It’s alright.” Once I got my stuff back from the TS, we strolled through Luman in silence. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it.
“You know what?” She stopped me. “This might not have been the best idea on my part. Can we start over?”
“Y-yeah?” I said, addled by her question. “What do you mean?”
She explained that she and her friends would go to the mall tomorrow, and invited me to hang out with them.
I wasn’t very inclined to go at first, but after casually mentioning it to Marissa later that night, I was convinced. In fact, I think she used it as an opportunity to do some shopping, so she invited herself along.
Marissa parked and I just smiled without noticing. “What?” she asked. “What’re you smiling about? That’s creepy. Don’t do that when you meet up with her.”
“Thanks, Rissy,” I got out the car.
She grabbed her purse and got out as well. “For what?”
I chuckled. She thinks she’s so smart. I fastened my shielders. “You mentioned you had to go to the mall. You knew I’d put you before myself. You knew I’d turn her down if you left it up to me.”
She got serious and walked over to me, then rubbed her knuckles into my head. “You sicken me sometimes, smartass.” She threw an arm around my shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go meet her. No girl can take my nephew without my permission.”
I slipped into my hoodie when we entered the mall. It’d been a while since I was in a place like that. It felt exciting as much as it was nostalgic. Calanthe introduced me to her best friends, Nadia, a short, light-brown girl, with curly shoulder-cut hair. And Anna, a pale girl with dyed navy-blue hair.
My body froze up a little when I heard that name, and Marissa noticed immediately. She was concerned, but I held steady and shook their hands, or at least I tried to shake Nadia’s. She was quite the bubbly and affectionate person so she accepted nothing less than a hug.
“C’mon, stop hiding,” Anna called a fellow in the back, and once again, my body flinched again. “This is my brother, Joshua. Josh, this is—”
“I heard,” he manoeuvred confidently around Anna. “Jared Ugo, right? I’m a,” he stuck his hand out, “huge fan.”
My eyes locked with his in an intense showdown of glares, “Likewise, Joshua,” I squeezed, but not too much for it to be obvious. “You seem like a real go-getter.”
“Yeah, so I’ve been told,” he joked.
We stopped our dumb strength contest after a few handshake pumps. I could tell he was trying to intimidate me, which made me think he didn’t want even the slightest wind of what happened that night getting back to Anna. I surmised he held his appearances high, or he was a man who put family first – perhaps both.
Was it a coincidence to see one of the men who tried to rob me the very next day? My instincts refused to stay silent about it.
“So,” Marissa moved the conversation along, “I have to handle some business first, but if you guys eat without me, I’ll bite. Oh, and Calanthe,” she put a hand to her mouth as if trying to keep her teasing secret, “he loves tech stuff. Carry him to a nerd store and you’ll win.”
I scoffed. “We’re definitely eating without you!”
We split up with Marissa and the group was pretty talkative. I didn’t exactly know them, but I didn’t feel too alone either. It was a good change of pace. I’d noticed Joshua was very involved, but as soon as his sister, Anna, moved away, he’d retreat to himself and keep quiet. For the most part, he pretended I wasn’t even there.
Whilst Calanthe was busy explaining to the group why pizza was the best thing ever made, Joshua’s phone rang. He peered at the screen for a few seconds, but not long enough to make it look like he wanted to avoid the call. He excused himself to take the call, and told us he had to go because there was an issue at his job that he had to deal with.
“Alright, go kick some ass!” Nadia encouraged. “Anyway,” she gave her purse to Calanthe, “I’m going to the little girl’s room.”
Anna joked about how she always held it in for no reason and Calanthe was quick to agree. They were concerned, but still laughed about it. We got ice-cream and were going over to a table when the fire alarm suddenly went off. A fire alarm in the mall was not an everyday occurrence, but I paid it no mind and began to usher Anna and Calanthe outside.
Anna stopped, “But Nadia’s still in there!”
“Don’t worry,” I smiled, “the restroom is pretty close to this exit, so it’ll be al–”
An explosion’s force shattered the glass walls and windows and threw some people onto the ground. A panic really did ensue now. The atmosphere that the alarm, explosion, and screams instilled was a fearful one. Calanthe looked petrified, and I wondered if playing hero again was the best idea.
I took a deep breath and held onto the ankh pendant hanging around my neck. Once I steeled my nerves, I pulled the headgear up from around my neck and onto my head like an athlete’s headband. That way, I would have full control over Grav. The azure streams of UGO energy propelling from boosters lifted me easily and I flew above the crowd to get to the restroom that Nadia went into.
“Nadia!” I shouted, hoping to get an answer, but there was nothing. The restroom didn’t get the full brunt of the explosion, but the debris and fallen the toilet stalls made it difficult. Once I broke the corner, I saw Nadia with tears rolling down her face and the wooden toilet partitions in a chaotic mess behind her. Another young lady was unconscious on the floor, bleeding profusely. Nadia propped her up, but she couldn’t exactly help her.
“Can you walk?” I asked Nadia whilst searching for where the wound on the young woman was. Nadia tried to stand, but her knees buckled. “It’s okay, just breathe. It’s okay, we’re going to get through this. Anna has ice-cream for you,” I joked whilst tying my shirt around the unconscious girl’s leg. With a grunt, I placed her over my shoulder and held my hand out to Nadia. Some more pressure was placed on the wound with my hand just in case the t-shirt wasn’t enough.
Nadia and I slowly, but steadily began making our way out. Suddenly, I felt a weight on my hand; Nadia passed out. Damn! I summoned more strength and stopped her from falling by grabbing onto her wrist and lifting her up. Thanks to White, I was able to lift her up enough and get into quite the awkward position in order to also get Nadia over my other shoulder.
I glided out the washroom’s hallway and was greeted by two men with pistols aimed at me. Without asking questions, I activated a shielder which brought forth a shield of energy shaped like a turtle’s shell. I was dead in my tracks now, like a deer in headlights. They were armed; escaping to outside the mall where the rest of the public gathered would probably a bad idea if they chose to follow me.
“What do you want?” I asked the masked men.
One of them laughed, as he felt calm and in control of the situation. But the other one’s hand trembled ever so slightly; maybe he was new to the job. The confident one switched his gun hand, “Just a little love, hero,” then shot at me.
I was startled, but chose to actively try calming down. You’re with me. You’re with me, I thought. I’m not alone. I repeated those safe words and slowly rested the two girls down without messing up the placement of the shield too much.
Another couple of shots were fired and ricocheted off the shielder. At that point, Marissa phoned me. Not the best timing. “Rissy, you okay?” I asked her.
A few more bullets rang off. “Are you?! What’s going on?” she interrogated.
“I’m not sure, but I’m fine. I’ll call you back, okay?” Once I hung up, I stepped behind the girls without having them leave the protection of my shielder. I jumped so Grav wouldn’t roast Nadia and her passed-out partner alive and beelined to one of the gunmen. I bashed him hard enough with the shield of energy that he passed out pretty quickly. Without giving the other shooter time to catch himself, I grabbed a potted plant and slung it at him, giving me just enough time when he dodged it to administer a similar shielder-to-face treatment.
He didn’t pass out, but he was slammed against a support pillar. His yelp of agony proved he wouldn’t be able to get up anytime soon. I stamped on his arm and picked up the gun, then doubled back for his partner’s gun. I turned the safety on and stuck them into my jeans, then picked up the two girls and flew them outside.
Calanthe and Anna were relieved that Nadia was alright. Calanthe’s inquisitiveness couldn’t help but throw a question my way. “Why do you have guns? Were you the one shooting just now?”