Zircon City

Earth

Night

Joe stared up, taking in everything he had just heard from Cheeta.

"So…that power you used…and the glowing thing…this is all so confusing."

"I'll do my best to explain it here, but it's a long story."

"I…have time."

"I don't. There's a gang boss on the loose that I need to catch."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I'll continue. No one knows when, but a story says that there was a great omnipotent beast called Paraphim. A beast that lived beyond all laws, concepts and stuff like that."

"Concepts?"

"Concepts are stuff that aren't real which form everything that is real. Like lust. It isn't a real thing you can touch or see, but it forms things like a racing heartbeart." She smiled at Joe and he felt his heart quicken. "Anyway, Paraphim basically destroyed the world. No, the Multiverse. Beyond that, even. I At this point, only the heavens stood a chance against him. He was truly, absolutely invincible. But they sent a hero called Lumerion who beat him and restored everything."

"And what does that have to do with your powers?"

"I'm getting there, don't worry. Paraphim was a beast of boundless proportions, but when he was destroyed, a tiny fraction of his body made it to Earth with Lumerion, who presumably died after losing his power. A boy is said to have received the memory of this event which otherwise would have been completely unknown."

"Then how do you know it's true?"

"Well, that's a good point. After all, no one believed the boy when he told them. But as the story goes, Lumerion left something called a Core to the world, giving it to every single person in the world and…" She pressed her hand to her chest, and a white glow emanated from it. "I'm living proof of that."

"That's a Core?"

"Yes. You have one too, though it hasn't been awakened yet. But I know it exists because that rib you stole is inside you."

"Wait, you know about the-?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I do. If you're wondering why I saved you after you stole-"

"Wait!" He held his hand out, cutting her off. "The thing is…inside me?!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Yeah, that's how I got my power," Cheeta replied calmly. "

"But…so…I'm one of you?!" He stopped himself, realising how offensive he must have sounded. "Sorry…I didn't mean…" He looked up at Cheeta, but she didn't look fazed at all by what he'd said.

"Yes. You are one of us," she clarified. "There are more, many more with different types of power. The omnipotent beast carried every single power you could imagine. When he was destroyed, millions of those powers fell down to earth in the form of his body parts. Like the rib you stole. We call them Parabones." Joe stood dumbfounded by all this new knowledge. It was as if his entire world had been flipped upside down.

"Wow…"

"Anyway, I need to get going now."

"Wait!" Joe raised his hands again. Cheeta paused, watching him expectantly. "I wanna hear more! Let me go with you!"

"Joe, can I ask you something?"

"Uh…sure."

"How old are you?"

"Huh? Can't you-?"

"I can read it like I did your name, yes. But I haven't. I want to hear it from you."

"Sixteen." As the words left his mouth, Cheeta's cheery expression immediately faded.

"I see. Three years younger than me."

"Is there a problem or-?"

"No, nothing at all," Cheeta said with a tone that implied there was. "But I think it isn't a good idea for you to be a Yatoga after all."

"Why not?!" Joe demanded. "I have the powers and everything! You can't just tell me all this stuff then leave me! It's..it's-"

"Joe," Cheeta said assertively. Joe stopped talking. "This Yatoga stuff isn't a game. The chances of you living to retirement age as one is below one percent."

"One?"

"The chances of you reaching even twenty one is less than ten. I'm so stupid," She muttered, clasping her head. "I shouldn't have led you on like that. Should have checked from the start. I had false hope and..."

"Why does that mean I can't join?!" Joe shouted.

"Because I don't want to see you die," Cheeta said back coldly. Joe drew in a shocked gasp and his eyes widened. "Too many have died too young. We don't even know if your power will awaken or not. Just try your best to forget about the Yatoga."

"So it's because I'm too young," Joe muttered.

"That's right. Now, I need to get going for real." She walked past him.

"Hold on, one more thing. You said you're meant to fight evil…" Cheeta stopped and turned around.

"I just told you to-"

"So why didn't you do anything about me stealing?" Joe asked. Cheeta smiled again.

"Joe. Who do you think deserves punishment, a man who steals a loaf of bread to save a starving child or the man who then steals the bread from that same starving child?"

"Well, the second."

"Right. I don’t judge only by actions, I also judge by intentions. In that case, I'd knock out the second guy and compensate the initial victim for their loss. You took that rib with the intention of stopping evil from abusing it right?" Joe nodded slowly. "Then there's your reason." She moved to turn around again but paused, her face suddenly tense. Her eyes had glowed red. "Someone's here. Some of them."

"Who are "them"?" Joe whispered. Cheeta didn't answer. Instead, she outstretched her arms out. Golden flames spread out in a ring around her and Joe, reaching over their heads in height. Joe stretched his hand cautiously towards it, expecting Cheeta to say something. When she didn't, he touched the flames. It felt pleasantly warm. All of a sudden, a heap of buildings, maybe fifty or a hundred, all flew towards them. Joe froze, his mouth open with horror.

"I didn't think they'd go this far…" Cheeta murmured. Joe remained there, horrified as the buildings rolled towards them.

"What do we do?!" He asked. Cheeta pointed to the buildings. Joe looked at them and to his astonishment, the buildings were instantly reduced to nothing the moment they made contact with the golden flames.

"The Golden Flames of Purity," Cheeta explained. "Special flames that differentiate from friend and foe. Anything threatening…" A swarm of men in black clothing charged towards them, many rushing into the flames. They were immediately vaporised, without even time to scream. "Is burned into nothing." The rest pulled back, examining the fire. "That is my Parabone ability - I can manifest and manipulate any form of heat or fire!" Joe was speechless. Even though he had seen her use her ability before, he had never imagined it would be this powerful. The golden flames then spread out, destroying the rest of the men and leaving no trace.

"Cheeta!" A gruff sounding voice came from a distance away. A dark skinned man wearing a black tracksuit top and bottom approached from the datknsss, weaving through the scattered flames. His bald head was oddly shaped, the ends of his forehead extended so that his head resembled a hammer. His neck had three grooves on either side of it.

"Hammerhead," Cheeta sighed. "Figured it was you. You're the type of guy to pull this."

"Bitch," Hammerhead snarled. "Where the fuck are my boys?"

"Your boys messed with the wrong Yatoga today," Cheeta answered, giving a warm smile. Hammerhead's eyes narrowed. Without warning, he burst forwards, moving so fast he disappeared. Cheeta grabbed Joe, pulling him aside. Even so, Joe felt an agonising pain in his arm. He held his breath and clutched his arm. Hammerhead landed on the ground before getting back up, dusting himself off. Blood slid from his head. Joe looked at his throbbing arm. Deep red blood seeped through a gaping wound. He felt himself being moved away and looked up. It was Cheeta. As he looked at her face, he saw something shocking. Her face was contorted in rage.

"I'm sorry, Joe," was all she said. She walked over slowly to Hammerhead. As the man powered forwards towards her again, she thrust her fist forwards, unleashing an immense explosion of blue flames. Joe thought he heard a strangled cry as the flames enveloped the gangster. When they cleared, all that was left standing was Cheeta, and a charred black skeleton.