The pain was already starting to subside, going from a world shattering all consuming pain to merely a throbbing ache, uncomfortable sure, but when you’ve been shot it puts things in perspective. Sure I didn’t really want to move or do anything other than go to sleep and forget that the last few hours ever occurred but I was in a new world now and I needed to figure some things out before I could take a much needed rest.

I examined my surroundings and immediately determined I was in a major city. I was surrounded by skyscrapers, Star Banking, Freeman’s Financial, Harvest Investments, Quigly’s Subs, regardless of whatever city I found myself in it became quickly apparent that I was in its’ financial district. The streets were basically empty except for the one homeless guy lying next to me on some cardboard with a thin blanket covering him. He had a mostly empty bottle of beer tipped over next to his head, all of which was par for the course as far as financial districts are concerned. I was sitting down in front of the entrance to the Freeman’s Financial building and tried to get my head on straight. I needed to figure a lot of things out.

First off resources, I now moved twice as fast as any other regular human being, at least I probably did, that part was still untested so I’d hold off on banking on said ability until I had a chance to try it out. Besides my new super power I also had my dress shirt and pants which currenlty had bullet holes and blood all over the place. Not really sure if I could count those as resources at this point, I suppose it was better than being naked, but not much better as it was sure to raise some questions. I also had my wallet which was filled with credit cards that didn’t link to any active accounts and about 30 dollars that were probably not valid anywhere on this new world.

So I had a healthy body that could probably move super fast and hey I was now debt free so that’s always positive. How many other 22 year old men could say they didn’t owe anything to anyone. Not many, that’s for sure. So I was in the financial district of a city with nothing to my name except for some blood soaked clothes and a probably super power. I’m guessing my new patron was recommending I do something about my current financial woes. I’m not proud of the thoughts that started running through my head, but when faced with being homeless and flat broke I at least began to consider a life of crime.

So now that I had a basic grasp of my resources it was time to consider short term goals and long term goals, short term, I needed to get some local currency, get some new clothes and then find a place to sleep. Long term I…

My train of thought was broken when I saw three men come out of the Star bank building. This normally isn’t a cause for alarm except they had on ski masks, were carrying guns and had sacks filled with what I can only assume was money or other valuables you might find stored in a bank. So my new patron was providing me with an opportunity, which was super convenient. I guess every now and then it pays to have a literal god on your side.

So time to make a choice, I could apprehend these guys and hopefully be rewarded for my good deed. I would then be in a position to leverage the good will of the authorities to establish an identity and start a life as a superhero. Money would probably be tight initially but I’d be doing good work and wouldn’t have any trouble sleeping at night.

Or I could stop the three crooks, take the money and use it as way to start my new life. Establishing my identity might be a little harder, but I’ve found that having money tends to make everything easier…

Either way I needed to stop those guys in order to have a chance to make said decision so it’s time to see if this super power actually works. I focused on the pain as I’m sure it had something to do with my new powers and I felt something weird. It was like being aware of the muscles in my calves, sure I’m always aware of the fact that they exist, but without conscious thought, they just kind of sit there and do as their told by my subconscious mind. It’s only when I actively thought about it that I could actually sense my new ability to manipulate my personal time. So I flexed my “time muscle” and suddenly everyone was moving a lot slower. I would have been awed by the fact that I could now manipulate time, but the dull throbbing ache I’d been experiencing suddenly ratched up to a sharp stabbing pain.

I needed to move fast and take these guys out before the pain became debilitating. I deactivated my super speed and began improvising a plan. I got off the ground, grabbed the mostly empty beer bottle off the ground and started stumbling toward the now slowed thieves. I moved slow enough so as to not draw attention to myself, whilst maintaining a drunken stumble so that when they did look over I would appear as some drunk looking for change.

As I made my way toward the thieves I did my best to plan out the next few seconds, first off I needed to confirm my first impression of them. I couldn’t see much of their faces due to the masks, but I could tell they were white and male. They also weren’t very big, the tallest amongst them was maybe 5’ 9” the other two were around 5’ 7”. So I was going to have an advantage once I got into range for things to get physical. They had their weapons lowered as they made their way out of the bank, they were slowly scanning the street, I was fairly sure they'd notice me shortly, hopefully they’d buy my hastily improvised disguise. If not I’d need to move fast.

I continued to stumble toward the three, I’d made it to maybe fifteen feet away from them before they noticed me, the darkness of the night was really kind to me, they’d have probably noticed me immediately if it had been daylight, or if the street lights weren’t so sparse. The guy who noticed me was one of the smaller guys, he nudged the big one and pointed at me. I was 10 feet away when the big one, whom I’m assuming was the leader of the trio said, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing boy. Fuck off before we make you.”

I lifted my hands and slurred my words in response, “Whoa man, I wash jus gone ta take a pish, didn’t mean nothin by it.”

The “big man” replied, “Well take a piss somewhere else ya fuckin wino.”

I took a step back and the three men dismissed me from their thoughts and began making their way away from the bank. As soon as they turned away from me I made my move. I reactivated my super speed to another increase in the pain I’d been experiencing and started sprinting toward them. It took them a second to register the noise and another to begin to react. By that time I’d already come into range of the crooks. I swung the bottle at the smaller crook on the right, the bottle shattered against the back of his skull and he was launched forward toward the ground. While he was being knocked forward I’d already recovered from the attack. I aimed the sharp stub of a bottle at the goon on the left’s right arm, you know the one holding a gun that was slowly making its way toward me.

The bottle easily penetrated the other thief’s forearm, causing him to clench his his hand in pain which happened to cause the gun to go off. The bullet left the barrel of the gun and promptly entered the side of the leader who was still in the process of turning around to deal with the unexpected threat behind him. I had enough time to see the spray of blood leave the leader’s side before he got his hand on the wound and attempted to staunch the bleeding.

While the leader was distracted with his new gunshot wound I decided to finish off the thief I’d stabbed. I punched him across his jaw with my now freed right hand. His head rapidly turned as my fist connected, his body followed his head and he ended up doing a completed 360 spin before collapsing to the ground. The leader still grasping his wound tried to turn his gun on me, and probably would have succeeded too if I didn’t have super speed. I slid along behind his back, making sure to keep his body between the barrel of the gun and myself. He couldn’t turn fast enough to deal with me and rabbit punch to the back of his head was enough to knock him out.

With all three crooks out for the count it was time to collect the loot and get the hell out of there. Yeah lets be real, I don’t care that this was some kind of alternate reality, a black man takes out three white men, all of whom have serious injuries… There’s no way I leave the ordeal with the love and appreciation of the authorities, at best I am questioned and released, more likely I’m in jail while the three men are put into the hospital. So yeah, I gathered up the three bags, the two unfired guns and the jacket of the one I’d knock out with the beer bottle. I stashed the guns in one of the bags as I didn’t want to get caught walking down a major city street toting a couple of guns. When I put the jacket on I felt the familiar weight of keys and a wallet inside.

I patted the other two down, pulled their wallets, keys then I removed the leader’s jacket and shirt, made a makeshift bandage tightened it around his wound and got away from the scene of the crime. As I left I checked my new keys to see if one of them had a car.

Apparently between the three of them there was Ford and something with a Z. I’d never heard of that brand but I’d keep my eyes open. I spotted a Ford truck before I got a block away from the bank, looks like the crooks parked close enough to be convenient without being too suspicious. I tried the door and it didn’t open. Well shit, guess it was just a random Ford. I got another block away before I found a bank of payphones. I walked up to one, dialed 911 and waited. The operator picked up quickly, “911 what’s your emergency?”

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I slurred a response, “yo… I’m pretty sure I jest saw some dead bodies outside the Star bank, not sure, lots a blood and I’m a lil drunk, so you migh wanna send an ambulance or somthin.”

I hung up the phone before the operator could ask any other questions, then started jogging away from the phones. I’d done everything I reasonably could for the would be bank robbers without endangering my future, my conscience felt a little better, and now it was time to get my blood soaked ass out of there. I checked the street signs to figure out where I was, NE 7th and 112th. I checked the wallets to see if any of the three crooks lived nearby. Lets see here, no ID, no Id, Frank Miller, 4612 NE 7th st apt. A12 Charlotte, North Carolina 28105.

I almost laughed, this asshole decided to rob the bank right down the street. I checked for building numbers and after looking for a few seconds I spotted one, 4317. Looks like I had to go another three blocks and I’d have a place to wash up.

I started jogging, which seemed like a good idea as I heard the sound of sirens from a few blocks away. I paused to listen and found that they didn’t seem to be getting closer to me, looks like the guys I robbed might make it after all. I started jogging again, 4512, 4534, I crossed the street, 4612.

I found myself in front of an old apartment building, you know the old red brick kind. I walked up to the front entrance and tried a couple of the keys until one of them unlocked the front door. I double checked the license again, A12, and began searching for the apartment. Fortunately it wasn’t exactly hard to find as the apartment building had a fairly standard layout. I simply walked down the main hallway until I ran into the not so elusive A12. I tried a few more keys and opened the old door.

I was greeted by a small studio apartment, there was a couch an old tube TV, a dresser, a queen bed and the smell of old dishes and dirty laundry. Apparently Frank wasn’t exactly a fastidious guy but that didn’t matter for what I needed. I made my way to the shower and turned it on. I stripped out of my my basically ruined clothes, the shirt was a total write off, it had numerous bullet holes and was covered in blood stains along with fresh specks from my recent violent encounter. I threw it into the shower to get some of the blood off. It might be a write off but I didn’t want it to reek of blood while I hung on to it until I could get rid of it.

My pants had blood on them, but might be salvageable as there wasn’t any overt damage to them. Into the shower they went too. My boxers besides being covered in sweat were fine, socks and shoes were also fine though I’d need to clean the shoes a bit to get rid of the few drops of blood that managed to splatter on them.

I hopped in the shower as the stream started to rise and I began to shake. The last few hours were absolutely insane, and I’d never dealt with anything like it before. The extreme violence, the difficult decisions, the fucking getting shot so many times. I’d never been in so much pain before in my entire life. I think I started crying in the shower, but hey that might have just been the shower water coursing down my cheeks.

I spent a few minutes just soaking in the hot water, recollect the shattered bits of my mind then I grabbed the soap I found in the shower and started vigorously cleaning. I didn’t have time to freak out I needed to clean up and then get out of here before the cops showed up or hell before anyone saw me here and potentially linked me to the crime.

Fuck! I’d just commited a felony, a couple of them, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, maybe even murder. I didn’t have time to be sloppy or foolish, my only advantage was that I wasn’t in any system on this planet, I doubted they’d be able to get any prints off the bottle the blood would likely was it off. I didn’t see any cameras and the victims didn’t exactly get a good look at me. They’d be able to say at best that a black homeless person made off with the money. So no good description or prints so unless they found me with the money they’d have circumstantial evidence at best.

So time to make a plan then get the hell out of here. I needed to find some clothes first, hopefully Frank had a shir that would fit and some shorts. I’d have to look when I got out of the shower. Once clothes were sorted out I needed to leave the apartment The bags in which the loot was stored were pretty nondescript, heavy too, so I should have enough money for a while. I needed to get out of town or at least toward the edge of it, then I needed to find a motel to fort up in for a bit. Once I had a place to stay I’d need to stash the cash, get some clothes that fit then plan out my next steps.

I spent a few more minutes in the shower gathering up my composure and cleaning my blood stained clothes. After that I hopped out of the shower grabbed a towel, dried off and made my way back into the living room/bedroom. I checked the dresser making sure to use the towel to touch anything. I found some red gym shorts, thankfully they were both long and had some stretch to them. Not exactly a great fit, but they’d do for now. I also grabbed white shirt, it was stupidly tight, but fortunately just long enough to cover up my stomach. I looked for a sweatshirt and found a grey number, once again a little too tight, but it was good enough for now. I gathered up the money and my wet clothes, throwing them into one of the bags of money along with the wallets and keys I’d gathered.

Then I scrubbed the place of my presence, I took the soap I’d used and splashed some bleach in the shower. I put the soap in the towel i’d used, threw both in the bag with my clothes then made my way out of the apartment. I checked the clock on the wall on my way out the door, it was an old analog clock so it took me a second to convert the hand positions into an actual time, 3:45 am probably why I hadn’t really seen anyone on my way here. Looks like I had at least an hour or two before morning commuters would arrive on the streets and I risked being spotted. I made my way out the door, down the hall and back out onto the street. Then I started jogging.

I wasn’t sure where I’d be able to find a place to stay I just knew it needed to be at least a few miles away. So I jogged, and it was uncomfortable. I was carrying three bags filled with a lot of money, and while they weren’t exactly overflowing with cash they were still heavy, add in the clothes and the fact that I was jogging in dress shoes and I wasn’t exactly having a great time. When I couldn’t jog anymore I walked. I kept up the pattern of walking and jogging for at least 45 minutes, I probably got 3 to 4 miles away from the scene of the robbery. I’d long since left the financial district, I’d actually found myself in a more rundown part of town, which was perfect for my needs. I kept my eyes open now that I’d gotten a decent distance from the bank and began looking for a motel, the cheaper the better. I wasn’t concerned over money I just wanted a place where they wouldn’t care that I didn’t have any ID, where they were used to customers coming in at all hours.

Frankly I was hoping to find a place that catered to prostitutes, a place that rented by the hour would give me the shelter I needed while I figured out a better solution to my problems. So I kept up the pace while keeping an eye out. It took another 10 minutes before I found a likely candidate, the Cane Inn. Apparently their going rate was $15 an hour or $50 a night. I made my way into the front desk area to find a man who’d obviously lived a hard life. He was mostly bald with long scraggly hair combed over poorly in an attempt to give the illusion that the man wasn’t missing most of his hair. He was also skinny to the point of being gaunt and based on the sores covering his neck indicated that he he’d been using meth for more than a little while. The man was currently dozing at his desk, and I took the opportunity to look around the office, there were plenty of keys on the wall so it looked like there were plenty of vacancies.

I read the name tag attached to his uniform which turned out to be a polo and some khaki shorts. I knocked on the desk in front of Sid and said, “Excuse me I’d like to rent a room.”

Sid jumped awake and looked around confusedly before he managed to focus on me. So I repeated myself, “Hey man, I’m looking to rent a room, have anything available?”

Sid shook himself then replied, “How long you want it?”

I responded, “depends, if it’s clean a day or two, if it’s dirty an hour to freshen up, change out of my travel clothes then I’m out of here. I just got into town and I need a place to stay for a few days while I get myself situated. So Sid, am I going to be staying for a couple hours or just an hour?”

Sid looked a little startled and asked, “How'd you know my name?”

I smiled affably, “Because you’re wearing a name tag and I can read. So back to my question, how long am I staying here Sid?”

Sid smiled revealing a mouth sans most of its teeth and said, “Well sir looks like you’ll be staying with us for a couple of days, provided of course that you can pay, cash not checks.”

I returned his grin, “That’s fine Sid, I have enough to cover a couple of days, though I hope you don’t mind if I check my room before paying.”

Sid sighed, almost offended and said, “Fine, this is the key to room 203. Cleanest room in the house, I’ll let you take a look, then I expect you to come back and pay for 2 days…”

I nodded, “That’s fine, if it’s up to snuff I’ll be here for the next two days.”

I brought my bags up to room 203 and was pleasantly surprised, while not exactly clean, nothing was too dirty, there were no obvious stains, an old tube tv sat on a dresser and the bathroom had a working shower/bathtub. I dropped the bags off in the room, grabbed $120 in $20s and made my way back to the office. I paid Sid, got my change and said, “I’ve been traveling for the last 12 hours I don’t want to be disturbed by a cleaning lady or other patrons of this establishment. Should my wishes be honored a nice tip is in it for you before I go.”

Sid replied, looking eager to please, “Sure thing man, I’ll keep the adjacent rooms empty and I’ll tell Lupita not to bug you.”

I nodded, “Thanks, also where’s the nearest place to get a decent breakfast?”

Sid answered, “About three blocks down 2nd there’s a decent diner called Mabel’s, can’t miss it, the grits are great.”

“Perfect, alright Sid I’m going to bed, have a good night Sid.”

“Goodnight.”

I left the front desk area and retreated to my room. Upon entering the room again I took a second to sigh in relief. I’d taken my first step in establishing myself in this new world. I had a place to stay, I had some money and most importantly I had some time to figure things out. I didn’t have forever, but two days with a roof over my head would let me get a lot done.

After taking a minute to revel in the relief I felt I decided to get to work. I opened the three bags and started counting my wealth. Apparently I was no longer even close to poor. It took me close to 30 minutes to count sort and stack all the cash, but I now had $243,571. Fuck me I was rich, maybe not buy a house rich, but I should be able to easily establish myself in the world now.

With a sigh I put the money away, condensing it all down into just two now overly stuffed duffle bags, leaving me one for clothing, toiletries and all that jazz. Feeling a sense of relief I decided it was time to get some sleep. I’d been awake for the last 20 hours if you didn’t count the transition periods between worlds, which I didn’t since they were in no way restful. I pulled back the sheets, noticed they were relatively clean, stripped and found my way under the covers. I was asleep in seconds.