His fists clenched convulsively. As if he could keep a grip on his anger and rage like a physical thing. The clear bright sky was a ridiculous contrast to the storm raging inside Cal. Around him people laughed and played oblivious to the turmoil that was about to come to their lives.
“Run,” he tried to say, but with his teeth held so tightly together the words barely came out as more than a grunt. He took a breath and tried again, “RUN!” This time it came out as a bellow, jerking those nearby out of their revelry. All around the playground curious eyes turned to look at him. The children from the play structure, the swings and the fields all around tried to get a better look at what this new commotion was. The parents, quickly realizing this was not something they wanted their children anywhere near, started moving to collect the charges. If only Cal could do the same, if only… “MOVE!!! EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE, RIGHT NOW!”
Parents moved faster, even as the children tried in vain to get a better view of the scene, the smaller ones peering over their parents’ shoulders, the older ones walking backwards to keep pace, while also keeping an eye on this man who had suddenly started screaming in the middle of the park. Finally, the tide of people had ebbed away from him and he eased up slightly, feeling a familiar tug in his chest, that became stronger as he relaxed. Like a string being pulled tighter and tighter or a balloon filling with air and slowly expanding. He heard faint sirens in the distance, one of the parents must have called the police. It wouldn’t matter, he had all the time he would need.
Soon Cal stood along facing a group of 6 arrayed around him. With the other families around they had blended in, wearing typical park attire, shorts, sneakers, t-shirts, and ball caps. Each different enough to not identify them as a group, but similar enough that now, standing in a circle, it was obvious that they were together. 4 men and 2 women stared at Cal, and he stared back.
“We’re here to take you back Cal.” Said the blonde woman on his left. She was tall and lean, like a collegiate athlete, and wore a red UMASS hat and a Red Sox shirt. A man in a Wounded Warrior sweatshirt agreed, “Yeah Cal, no need for this to get messy. Just come with us and we can have a nice chat.”
“I don’t know what they told you,” said Cal softly, “but this is not a fight you want.” The pressure in his chest continued to build. He could speed it up or slow it down, but it was too late to stop entirely at this point. “Do you know what they took from me?” He turned, looking them each in the eye. “Do any you know what they are taking from you?”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The tallest man in the group stepped forward. He had dark skin and a neatly trimmed beard. He also looked like an athlete, but while the woman looked like a sprinter, this man had a build like a professional football player. To be honest all of the six surrounding him looked like athletes compared to Cal, he was of average height and slightly above average build, softened in a way that suggested he used to work out, but was not as fit as he used to be. This often led to him being underestimated. That would not be the case here. These 6 would obviously have been told that Cal’s physicality was not his greatest strength.
“I don’t care what they take,” he declared. “What they have given me is incredible, and what they promise… Well, if they can deliver on even half of what I’ve been promised, I would gladly give up anything and everything.” The others broke into wide grins, obviously agreeing with the sentiment.
Cal looked down and shook his head. “You have no idea,” cal whispered, “and you never will.”
The burden in his chest had finally reached its apex. Cal reached into himself, concentrating on a spot just over his heart, and gave one, final push. POP! The pressure released and power flooded Cal’s body, ripping out of him and creating a bubble around his entire body, a perfect sphere about 7 feet across. Everything outside of the bubble appeared to freeze. Birds hung frozen in the sky, branches that had been swaying in a light breeze moments earlier, now sat motionless. Sound stopped entirely.
Cal moved, not quickly relative to his normal movements but quick enough. He moved towards the man who had stepped forward as he was now the closest and as Cal moved closer to him the man started to move ever so slightly, moving quicker the closer Cal came, but he would never move fast enough to make a difference. Cal closed the final few feet with a quick stride and planted a kick in the man’s chest. From Cal’s perspective the man simply started to float away, slowing down again as he moved further away from Cal, until he again seemed to have frozen. Cal moved to his right, taking out each of the team members one at a time not hurrying and not putting more force into the blows than he needed. Two punches, and two more kicks now had five of the six hanging in mid-air around Cal, but the blonde had started to move. Cal hadn’t begun to close on her yet, so she must have activated her own Arc, but hers was newer, and she couldn’t have built up much of a charge yet, so she moved sluggishly to Cal’s even more sped up perception. She must have realized too late, that she wouldn’t be able to match him even with her own Arc activated, because she turned and tried to flee, Cal walked up and grabbed her by the arm, he swung her around once and released. Then he released his Arc and watched as all 6 of his would-be assailants flew away. Three tumbled into the woods, one flew back and smacked sickeningly into the side of the bathroom building, but the Blonde and the guy with the Wounded Warrior shirt on both cleared the treeline, coming down yards away. Cal, let out a deep breath, turned, and walked back to his car.