I had the pleasure of spending time in Ripley on a Friday, which meant it was squandered at school. Mother was tapping her knuckles on my door like a woodpecker reminding me I had school soon. She never used powers after the overpass incident, and I thought I’d never see her use them again. I didn’t know her full capabilities, but earlier this week, I got a glimpse at just how capable Mother truly was.

Begrudgingly, I crawled out and stretched my creaky bones when my feet hit the soft carpet. It felt good, no, it felt fantastic actually as they popped. Then I climbed out of my orange pajamas. Blue jeans, a redshirt, and a gray flannel thrown over on all I needed. Coupled with a pair of Timberlands, I was ready for school.

Then I threw my backpack stuffed with loose papers on and cranked my door open. There she was. Tall, stern, and the sole provider to my old life. In her painted nails she cupped a yummy breakfast. The bottom of the hot plate sizzled in my fingertips as I gripped it, but I played it off.

Small blueberry waffles, tubular apple sausage that burst with juice when you bit into it, and two eggs. Since she knew I would be taking the bus rather than her dropping me off, she exchanged fried eggs with boiled eggs in case I had to eat them when I got to the cafeteria.

“Don’t miss the bus,” She said in a tender, yet assertive tone.

“Yes mam,” I said, assuring her.

She let me step past her and I walked towards the teleport room. It was right next to the pantry. Mom was on her way to work, so I opened and closed the door for her, as a gentleman should. It whirled up and vibrated slightly as it warped her outside. I watched her tall body climb into our red sedan. A moment later, she was down the highway we lived next to.

I followed suit after she pulled off. I remember the teleport rooms always feeling warm and tingly, like soaking in a hot tub that's too hot, as my atoms and converted them to radio waves, and transported them outside. I stepped out of the transponder room and gazed down the path to the school bus. It was up a small hill to my left.

When I made it up the hill, the bus stop was vacant. Down the other side, was the bus, congested in the middle of traffic at a red light. My foolish self stayed up on video games the night prior. Perhaps the driver would open the doors for me, I was a regular after all.

I gave chase down the hill but stopped when I felt the tender prickling of the Blue Iris in my gut. Too much action can entice my powers and I was to avoid using them in public. My blue hair attracted enough attention already. Traffic flowed again, and after a moment the bus was out of sight.

My foolish, old self decided that it was a great idea to spend that morning conducting a stress test for my powers. I came up with a plan.

On the roof was a staircase that you could pull down to climb into the attic. From the attic, was a skylight facing our backyard that I pushed open, being careful so no one could see me if they were in their backyard. I pulled myself out, with my back facing our backyard, and climbed onto our roof flecked with clay tiles that clanked together when I stepped on them.

To my left, was the top of our chimney. To my right, was the Pinnopeys, our neighbors. Ms. Pinnopy was a widow, and my piano teacher at one point. They were the upper of the upper class, so their home was massively tall. Perfect terrain that could hide me from people below. Their roof was around forty feet above ours, tall enough to shade our entire house from the summer sun. When I sized it up, I knew I would have to use my powers.

I walked back to the precipice of the roof, near the gutter piped stuffed with muddy leaves and bolted up the side, using the slant as a ramp. I put all my effort forth, trying to summon my power with every step. Summoning the Blue Iris is kinda like rubbing two balloons together to generate electricity. I reached the apex, slamming my left sneaker on the slender ridge in the middle, and put all my strength in my left leg. The blue Iris surged forth, changing my eyes from brown to blue and rocketing me onto the neighbor’s rooftop.

From there, I was able to see my neighborhood. The fast cars, floating houses, and even the mailman on his daily route. outside of what I was used to. It was bigger than I ever imagined, I guessed because I had never seen it from that viewpoint before.

Intersecting roadways that lead to my school were ahead. I set my eyes on my next destination, the adjacent high-rise apartments, then the many prominent Skyscrapers of Ripley.

With my powers still active, I threw myself forward. My Blue Iris enabled me to amass a speed of what I estimate to be around eighty miles an hour, akin to the temporary speed of a cheetah.

The speed I accumulated while sprinting on the slender runway the Pinnopeys roof offered a point of takeoff for me. I lunged my foot on the parapet and shot myself onto the side of the apartment building stretching into the sky speckled with glimmering windows and bulging apparatuses. My fingers snapped on the outside ledge of a window frame. I ascended until I reached the top. At that point, I was free to do whatever I wished. I was simply too high up to be seen.

I was excited, yet nauseated looking at the city below. Streets resembled zippers on a jacket, and the cool air was paper-thin up there. The bus turned into a yellow flower in a field of black roadways and glimmering buildings.

In the short moments it took for the bus to reach the end of the road, I was already atop the apartment complex. Now I had to discover a way to keep up with it, to ensure I made it to school at the usual time.

My next destination was the nearest skyscraper. The Manton, a multistory building. specializing in farmer robots that cultivated food. A glorified factory that had no windows, that was dark purple. So dark that you would assume it was black unless told otherwise, with Its shadow being long and thin enough to stretch over the city as the day progressed.

The Manton and structures like it were called sundial buildings by slang because you could accurately decide what time of day it was based on which parts of the city were bathed in darkness. I remember calling Ty and joking with him asking what time it was.

He’d look out the window and say something amongst the lines of “On you know, just shy of six o’clock”, since that was around the time he got home, and around the time his city would be cloaked. He made a lot of corny puns about stuff including buildings. But there was hardly any build-up.

Unsurprisingly, many people in Ripley held resentment for the towers because of this. But their complaining never did anything.

It was around eighty-two feet in front of me. Just shy of twenty-four meters. I figured this out by comparing the average length of a school bus, fourteen meters, with the distance between me and the Manton. It would be my most audacious stunt yet.

As I did before, I back up to the farthest edge of the roof. With sweat dripping and being torn from my face as I ran, and my fingers pointed straight like arrow tips, I bolted forward. My blue Iris surging within me like a bolstering flame primed by a stream of lighter fluid. I directed the flow of energy into my legs. When I came upon the precipice, I slammed my eyes shut out of fear, and when I felt my toes with the edge of the roof, I rocketed off it, taking a portion of the roof with me.

When I opened my eyes, I was soaring through the skies on an uprise. I pierced the cloud layer above. Above the clouds, were the slender radio spires poking through like thin plants growing out of the soil. They were the hats of skyscrapers. The only buildings capable of reaching such heights. At that moment, I charted out a path to school before falling back through.

Plummeting through the air, I collided with the Manton, Meticulously searching for a handhold as I slid down the hot metal of the building. Finally, I found a proper handhold in the form of a seam between two plates of dark steel. From there, I was able to climb higher by digging my nails into the metal and hoisting myself up.

I breached the cloud layer again. Its chalky mass overtook me, and I came out the other side drenched. A mixture of exhilaration and terror settled in my stomach when I stood on the top. What am I? I still don’t know, but it’s without a doubt not human. Each time I readied myself for a jump, it was because deep down I knew I could handle it. It was like I was beckoned to challenge that morning.

In front of me were more radio spires than I expected. I leaped to one after the other in the path I charted out. I had been attending Midguar Middle for three years, so I knew the general direction. I glided through the sky, momentarily escaping the displeasure of gravity. Walking without my powers feels like walking through sticky glue. When I use my powers, it feels like I’m in space. Untouchable. Amazing.

I reached the radio spire belonging to the skyscraper conveniently propped outside my school. But I wasn’t sure. The clouds stopped me from seeing the city. So, naturally, I made a plan. With how much Blue Iris was surging within me, I felt like I could do anything. It’s a massive pool of energy, but I must control its flow like a water pump. The iris will not be tamed, only manipulated.

Like a train conductor, I guided my power into my upper torso. Cobalt blue strips of light revealed themselves on my chest and arms. It was the first time that happened. Perhaps I used too much of it? I’m still not sure.

I threw my arms behind me like a bird spreading its wings, and pulled them back forward, releasing a thunderous clap. The thick cloud layer below was split in two, revealing the city below with a resonating shockwave.

Glancing at the city below made me feel like I was watching television. Everything was so flat. When I reached my hand out I grabbed nothing but cold air. It was astonishing being that high up. I was truly at peace-away from people. But A twelve-year-old kid like me had no business atop a Skyscraper, powers or not.

Midguar Middle was one of the oldest and most renowned charter schools in Ripley. Of course, I aced every class. It was so old it didn’t have a hover box under it. Instead, it was a red brick building propped out from the ground with large panoramic windows on the top story, where the science classrooms were.

I lived in the heart of Ripley and Midguar was on the outskirts, but the uniqueness in its contemporary design allowed it to be spotted from the other side of the city. The shiny windows glistened like lights of a lighthouse, disclosing the school’s positions at all times.

It was situated with its back facing the Atlantic ocean. atop a jagged cliff. It was a good school and all, but being near the ocean made it so we could hear the waves crashing against the cliff. Not many children enrolled because it was a charter school, and the ones that did, left out of fear of the cliff giving way with its rear pointed towards the ocean. Getting inside was the last hitch, my best chance would be leaping from the spire, and land on top of the school roof.

Realistically speaking, there were several ways I could have made it to school. I could have found a way into the building, then take the elevator down. Or taken the bosun’s chair down, the small metal cart outside of buildings used to clean the windows. Hell, I could have skipped school entirely. But deep down, somewhere in my viscera, I knew the blue Iris would enable my small body to tolerate the impact.

I used the small bit of Roof that wasn’t taken up by the spire as a takeoff point. I was miles above the school, but not diagonally far. No need for another explosive jump. I simply let myself tilt over the edge, and when gravity pulled me over, I plummeted.

Dephoning wind whistled through my ears as it pulled my long blue hair back. I shut my eyes again, as to not let my nerves get to me. When I unlatched my eyes I was plummeting faster than I anticipated. I spun myself around to where my feet were pointed towards the roof, bracing myself for the imminent impact.

My feet slammed on the cement roof of the school, shattering it like a plate when it meets the floor. I crash-landed through the roof and bounced around on the floor. After collecting myself, I surveyed my surroundings. It was a dark room, with the only light glistening through the hole of the roof. Small cardboard boxes were everywhere. It was the school’s storage attic.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

There was a ladder in the corner of the room that conveniently led to the lost and found. I would need a new pair of shoes. My pair was destroyed upon impact, and my backpack burst open, scattering its contents everywhere. “Oh well,” I thought to myself. I climbed down the ladder, and made my way to the lost and found.

Size nine-point-five, perfect. Even though they somewhat resemble bowling shoes, it was whatever. I wasn’t hurt anywhere or bleeding, just a bit shaken up. I felt victorious in my gut, even with the peculiar shoes slipped on. I pulled my earbuds from my pocket and listened to heavy metal on my phone. When I reached the fifth floor, a song by Daft Punk came on. They split up, which is unfortunate.

It was the seventh story, first class was on the third. Students started flooding into school as I reached the fifth floor. I must have beat the bus fleet with a sliver of time. If I could, I’d make my way to school every day.

I slipped into my first period, Language Arts. Taught by Mrs. Vou. She was a tall Vietnamese teacher. She was ruthless to those who didn’t do their work. My favorite teacher.

“Now, let’s see who skipped class this time,” She sighed unenthusiastically.

She let my classmates' names rang out of her mouth like a dull microphone. Students were passing back our first worksheet. Since I always sat in the back, I got it last. Didn’t matter though, I always finished first.

Right as I deciphered the first question, and the tip of my pointy pencil taped the paper, A familiar approached me. It was Alice, whom I once called Al two years ago. Our friendship dwindled after the overpass. She kept messaging me on Instagram about my powers even after I told her to stop. I distanced myself from her, and back to being an introvert, I went. I honestly forgot I shared that class with her.

“Hello Ekule,” She said happily as she waved to me.

“Hello Alice,” I said in a dull tone, expecting her to ask me for my homework. An offer I always blew off.

“You don’t call me Al anymore? Heh,” She said with a small chuckle masking the neediness of the question. I could see right through her facades like a plane of glass. She was only interested in my powers.

“I haven’t called you that in two years,” I continued.

“Well, how’s your mom?” She asked.

“She’s good, what do you want?” I questioned.

“Why are you being so aggressive? I’m just wondering how your morning is going,” She said nonchalantly with another sly chuckle.

“Just peachy,” I added.

“I’ll see you in sixth period, okay?” she asked, slightly discouraged.

“Sure,” I said.

I didn’t care if she was upset at me or whatever. She should have realized by then that I didn’t want to be friends with her. After that class I had Biology next, then Mythology, my elective. It was my favorite class. That day we learned about Yggdrasil, the tree that encompasses every plane of existence. Class let out for a fifteen-minute snack where we all flooded the cafeteria for refreshment. I ate at the small bench with green paint. It was a spot that I liked since it was secluded, I could focus.

Then my last period rolled around. Physics class, on the seventh story. Another class I shared with Al and taught by Mrs. Douglass. I greeted her as I found my chair near the back of the class. Al happened to sit next to me, again, for some reason. Everyone assumed their seats, and the class started. Class fell silent as Mrs. Douglass started her lecture. Even the sound of a pencil bouncing off the floor was enough to vex her. Then she started on her grading, murmuring away at the turn of every paper.

“Does anyone want to pass out papers?” She asked as she finished.

“I’ll do it,” I said after a moment of silence.

“Good job Ekule,” Al said sarcastically.

“Leave me alone,” I told her as I got up.

“By the way, Ekule,” Mrs. Douglass said as I arrived. “Be cautious, I heard a loud slam from my roof, but the only thing up there is the storage room. What do you think it is?” She whispered mischievously.

“Donno Mrs. Rivers, maybe something fell over?” I said.

“I know! What if Midguar is haunted?” she continued.

“Would be pretty crazy if that happened right?” I said as I scooped the graded papers into my hands.

I trekked around the class, doing as she asked. Alice got a low grade, which I found funny, so I smirked at her when I gave it to her. I got an A, as always. Half the papers were delivered when I thought I felt a small jerk from the tiled floor below.

“Did anyone feel that?” Someone asked.

“We’ve been having small quakes all month, gotta love Lafornia,” Said Mrs. Rivers as she stood up out of her desk.

Then she started her next lesson, scratching her caulk on the green board in front of her with every sentence. I took my seat, cautiously stalking the city outside the large window. This time, I was ready for an earthquake. Ready to protect my class with my power.

A few moments passed, and my nerves settled. I’m not a big fan of shaking, they make me nervous. I began watching our teacher while jotting down things I already knew. Then another shake struck the school, causing her calk to snap against the board. Her head snapped towards the panoramic window overlooking the city.

“Miss. Rivers, you okay?” I asked.

“What is that?” She said in a concerned tone.

A student with blonde hair walked in front of the window, blocking my view. He just stood there, frozen. More joined him and watched. Something was happening outside.

“It-” uttered a student. “It’s coming up from the ground,” they said in a petrified tone.

At that point I decided to get up, leaving Alice at her desk. As I walked with worrisome curiosity swelling in my mind, the loud cry of Ripley’s catastrophe siren began whirling up. It wasn’t the siren for earthquakes, they happened so often the city of Ripley had a dedicated warning system for it. This type of siren arose only at the advent of a tsunami or volcano eruption. As these thoughts processed in my mind, another jolt struck the school, throwing me on my knees.

I smacked my nose on the tiled floor. Another fight or flight. My eyes shifted from brown to blue. I could tell by the blue light reflecting off the floor. Then I whipped around and made eye contact with Alice’s petrified face. Anxiety settled in my stomach screaming at me to cower, but my body kept moving towards the window.

Miles away from school, an entity was exposing itself from the subterranean of central Ripley. A mound no bigger than a truck materialized in the center of a busy street causing mass collisions. Sewage pipes were unrooted spraying groundwater on buildings. We watched in horror as the mound increased until the streets above crumbled. Beneath the rubble, was a massive metallic hand made out of black metal. It looked like it was coated in medieval armor.

“We need to evacuate!” Commanded Miss. Rivers.

Some students headed and left the room in a frenzy. Others were stuck at the window like mannequins, gripped by the adhesiveness of fear. She tenderly ushered them out.

The goliath dug itself free from the bottom of Ripley. Its bulging shoulders and stupifying torso with metal armor concealing the mechanisms inside. It upended homes occupied by student’s families. The massive Robot, which I will now call the goliath, slammed its massive hands on the city ripping its lower half free.

It now stood on the city like it was a carpet. Blanketed in looming medieval armor composed entirely of glossy black steel and green lights beaming from under, it lifted houses and scanned under them with green lasers, as if looking for someone. Then it scanned the whole city. The beaming laser-pattern zipped around the entire city before one tapped my foot. At that point, the beast stopped, and began its march towards me. A broad red fog made of blood amassed with every step it took.

A green mechanical crevice on its chest whirled around like the inside of a pencil sharpener. When I laid eyes on it, I knew it was a laser cannon capable of leveling my city. Its height was only rivaled by that of skyscrapers I used as a means to get to school that very morning. It erected fully, poking its head encased in a black helmet into the clouds. Its seemingly infinite shadow exploded the sun and overtook my school, despite it being miles away from me.

In a dream state, my idiot self watched. Then a familiar voice woke me. The calm, soothing utterance of Alice. She was screaming my name in a terrified and concerned tone. We looked at each other again. She was inches behind me, and pulled me up by my arm. And behind her, chaos ensued in the classroom. Papers fluttered everywhere, pencils were being thrown. Mixtures of screaming prepubescent voices, both terrified and amazed, filled the atmosphere making it impossible to comprehend her.

She yanked me forward as a way of telling me to accompany her. And with my arm tightly wrapped in hers and her brown hair fluttering in the air as she weaved between desks, she led me out of the class. We threw the door open to a congested hallway overflowing with frantic students. We weren’t the only ones striving to evacuate.

In front of me, was the petrified face of a pier. Another kid, just like me. Whom I thought was scared of my glowing blue eyes. What he was actually staring at, was the face of the robot just inches away from our seventh story class. The Goliath's face split into two halves like a fly trap and in the epicenter, was another swirling laser cannon. It whirled, charging at attack.

“We gotta go!” Alice screamed. Finally, I could understand her.

“Alice!” I yelled.

“Evacuate!” She demanded.

But we all knew there was no escape. It was too big, almost the size of the city itself. Nothing could escape the reach of that thing.

“It’s alright Ekule,” Al said as she put herself in front of me. “Well be okay,” She said in a blithe tone that failed to mask the sorrowful hopelessness I know she was feeling.

“It was nice being your friend.” She said as she faced the Goliath.

“Al, what the hell are you doing?!” I asked.

“There's no hope either way,” she said.

“Al we can still make it out! I can save us,” I screamed.

“If you could do anything, you would have done it already-you’re always competent like that,” She said as she tenderly pinched my cheeks.

“This is just how the cookie crumbles. But to think I’d go out like this, right?” She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The swirling cannon in the center of its head reached maximum charge. A thunderous boom shattered the window shooting glass at us like bullets. Al shielded me from them, her body jolting with every impact.

Then my school was blasted by the Goliath’s annihilating green laser. I was blasted by a vortex of green energy, with its heat pulling my skin apart. Alice’s body shielded me from the brunt of the attack.

I came to under a ruined chunk of a red brick wall warm and still surging with green energy. I lifted it off me with what remained of my power. When the dust cleared, I glimpsed into what remained of my city.

That was how the esteemed Ripley, the place I was born into, and spent my formative years in, was reduced to pebbles. Cars flattened like pancakes. Contorted bodies everywhere. The air was heavy with the scent of blood. Some ripped in half, others still whaling. Some of the screaming, the ones that weren’t gurgling, were that of my classmates. Their words were incoherent. They were just screaming. Screaming because that's all they could do.

I rose from the wreckage, on a mound of what remained of my school. Slabs of my skin were burnt, and broke off as they turned to dust. Blue splotches of blood-drenched parts of my clothes. The Blue Iris was keeping me on life support after the onslaught.

The thought of Alice popped into my head. Her nice smiling face and calm, yet condescending manner. I had to find her. I surveyed the area and found her under some debris nearby, squashed like a bug.

“Alice!” I yelled and I pulled half her corpse from under the rubble.

Her makeup was still on, though her red lipstick was smeared on her upper lip. Her beady eyes were dimly shining like that of a dying lightbulb. A saber of glass was lodged in her throat like a knife. I take refuge knowing she at least died swiftly.

The Goliath loomed over me. Its head poked into the raining sky. It seemed to watch me. Judging me, as if it was God itself. I was waiting. Waiting for it to charge another blast. At that moment, I was sure I would die.

This time the cannon in its chest charged another laser. I gazed deeply into its captivating functions. My impending annihilation was mere moments away. A part of me was curious what the afterlife was like, or if there even was one. Knowing there was no escape, I welcomed it.

An impact rammed me on my side followed by a shockwave. Then the defining boom of a sonic bang blew my ears out. Thin blue strands of blood trickled down both sides of my face. That's when I knew I had used up the rest of the Blue Iris. I turned to my left, a nuke teaming with vibrant green and yellow lights appeared to have gone off on the other side of Ripley.

A big ball of white energy ball of light, followed by a jet stream descended in front of me. The ball dissipated, and at its epicenter, was my mother. She approached me as I held Alice's hand. Her white hair flowing magnificently in the air, and white balls of energy swelling in her hands.

“Hello son, I’m sorry, that girl is dead,” She asserted as she pointed at Alice’s body.

“Mom? What’s happening?” I asked.

“That girl, she’s dead,” She continued as she pointed at Al's body.

“Mom tell me what’s happening!" I begged.

“There's so much I’ve needed to tell you,” She said.

“That’s not fair!” I yelled.

“It’s your life, the one you’ve been given.” She said.

“That’s not fair!” I continued.

We continued shouting at each other. Rage surged in my stomach. For the first time in my life, I cursed at my mother. She stopped talking and listened to my bout of anger as if waiting for her turn to speak. The Goliath continued charging, sucking up clouds as it did. When I was done, Mother came closer and lifted me up by my armpits.

“I love you, my child. I am sorry I failed you so much. I’ve just been so busy these past years, I never found time to tell you” She said faithfully.

“What do you mean?” I asked. After I let my anger out, I was able to talk calmly.

“One day, you may question why you were even born,” She continued.

“Okay Mom, you can stop now,” I said.

“Sorry, it’s just, I’ve been trying to get you ready,” She said.

“You haven’t readied me for shit,” I told her.

“I know, I’m a pretty shit parent, aren’t I?” She said as a tear rolled down her face. That was one of the rare times I saw Mother cry.

The air shook as the beast nearly finished charging. Mother set me down, and wiped the tear from her face with her index finger. She molded the tear into a crystallized bubble no bigger than a car. It solidified, turning into a forcefield, and gained the appearance of a gemstone. She passed it to me, and it opened up and wrapped itself around me. It hovered a few feet in the air, and that was the last time I made contact with a part of Ripley.

“This is just how things are, sweetheart. I’m sorry,” She said as her eyes burst into smoldering flames of white light.

“Just remember hun,” She said as she turned her back to me. Mother tilted her head back, looking at me with the side of her face. “If you’ve got time to feel miserable, then you have time to fight. Now you won’t have me anymore, you’ll l need to fight for yourself. You, and Sky.” She said as she levitated the forcefield raised the forcefield with her hand.

“Who is Sky? What are you saying?” I yelled while pounding on the forcefield. It felt as solid as a brick wall.

She didn’t say anything. Just a kindly wing with her long white eyelashes as she turned to fully face The Goliath.

It finished charging, and readied itself for one final blast. Mother did the same and conjured an energy ball of her own. Then they shot at each other at each other, with each blast meeting in midair. Creating a catastrophic orb of energy that swelled monstrously.

The ball split, releasing a catastrophe that erased what remained of my city. The shockwave blasted me into the skies above, and away from Ripley. I flew over the Atlantic ocean for hours. Inevitably, I passed out.

Soft long strands of grass sliding across my skin. I slowly pried my dreary eyes open. On a vast farm was where I laid, with stinging sunlight piercing my eyes. I sat up from the moist soil. I landed here, on a massive, everlasting farm field.

With my right hand cupping my Bruns, I marched to a brown wooden structure taking up much of the horizon. It appeared as if it was in the center of the massive farm. My destination. I reached the wooden porch and raised my fist to knock on their brown door made from maple. As my knuckle made contact with the wood, I collapsed.