Run, Run, RUN!
Walter could see the dark smoke rising from the center of the shopping mall as screams of panic filled the area, he swore he could see people launching large plumes of fire at the civilians, he could smell a slight burning as if… No, he didn't want to think about it.
Where to GO! If only he didn't have this USELESS power!
____
Deep breaths Walter, just because everything went to black doesn't mean you are dead.
One moment, Walter was doing some cloth shopping at one of those expensive as crap mall stores when his vision turned black and weird voices started to tell him things. He swore figures watched his every move from the shadows as the voice repeated the same sequence over and over! MAKE IT STOP!
Suddenly, the void shrunk, out of surprise Walter stepped back, only to find a seemingly solid ethereal wall blocking his way. The void shrunk further as a deep panic set within Walter as he felt his thread of consciousness get thinner and thinner, until it snapped…
Name: Walter Night
Powers:
Thread Control [I] Lv.0
Modifiers:
None
Grumbled voices filled the air as Walter stirred.
At least the voices stopped… What the hell?
The bright cyan box hovered in Walter's Brain, as clear as a desert sky in the middle of winter, he felt a strange sensation crawl around his scalp as if he could feel something that he want touching. As Walter slowly processed the information only after a while did the panic register in his head as large explosions sounded from the center of the mall.
He had to run.
The image was frightening, a single giant of a man was manifesting pure white flames from his fingertips. Children burning as the flames scaled up their arms, people dying right in front of Walters eyes, their charred corpses left an impression, he would not forget it. The man was just down the large corridor, blasting whatever person he laid his eyes onto. He had to survive.
Firstly, he had to analyze what he had, besides the clothes on his body, his phone and his wallet, there was his environment.
Also not useful.
He was currently hiding behind one of those circular clothing hangers at the front of the small enterprise. He doubted that the glass would hold against that heat.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He needed another exit.
“Quick! Hold down the door!”
An old late 60’s man was shouting at the stunned employees at the store. Walter had not taken into account the others in the shop, a petite woman shouted back at the old man.
“And what! Suffocate to death”
Walter studied the argument from afar as he quickly dashed to the back of the store. The only thing there was a small dressing booth and a management office. He tried both doors.
Locked
Walter would hear the man's flames crackling as the smell of smoke increased every second. His mind went blank as the temperature in the room ignited. Time seemingly froze for Walter as the image of the burning corpses littered around the mall floor seemingly invaded each one of his thoughts. That was him, just one of this guy's countless victims, a drop in the bucket.
In that singular moment of time, Walter only felt one emotion, pure unbridled rage. Rage for the people whose lives were lost, rage for the lack of importance he had and most importantly, Rage for how useless he was.
There it was, like a slithering snake, no thread on his scalp. The odd sensation confused him when he woke up, but was quickly quenched in his panic. Walter took hold of that thread, he saw the man's sinister smile as the mall burned from behind him. His flames became stronger, hotter, the more he burned.
He pulled.
Thread Control [I] Lv.0 → Thread Control [I] Lv.1
Walters' cotton shirt was torn to threads as they propelled themselves towards their target, the man took notice of the string and evaporated it with his flames. His smile grew wider as he stared down Walter.
“Pathetic!”
The white hot flames rushed towards Walters face as a deep sense of Defiance filled his very soul. Walter felt his hair alight as the flames got ever closer.
WHACK!
A large metal chair hit the man on the side of the head. The flames stopped.
Walter watched as the 60 year old man from before was grabbed by the neck and slowly had life sucked out of him. The corpse hit the ground.
Charred
The man looked to continue attacking Walter, and saw his figure dash out of the shop into the burning mall. Quickly, he burst down the doors to the management office and dressing booth and absorbed the individuals in there. Their power left a sweet aftertaste. The man quickly continued the chase.
____
Run, Run, RUN!
Where to GO! If only he didn't have this USELESS power!
It was already hard to breath for Walter before, but in the open fire he doubted he would last 3 minutes without fresh air. The smoke blurred his vision as the floor behind him started to collapse. The ashes singed his bare skin as he dashed for the emergency staircase.
A quick look behind him and Walter saw the criminal sprinting for him.
HOW IS HE SO FAST!
Walter had barely made it to the staircase before the flames chased him. Quickly ducking, he was able to get into the staircase and shut the door. The door quickly turned a light red then yellow as it came apart. Walter watched in horror as the man slowly walked down towards him.
“Fancy ability you got there, telekinesis! I will add nicely to my collection!”
Walter had an epiphany, they were thirty feet up, His ability worked like telekinesis, and this stairwell had not been maintained in decades. The man slowly walked closer to Walter, continuing his monologue.
“If you didn't run away I would've let you join my crew. Think of all the power we could have in this new world! A pi-”
There it was, the thread. Walter could feel its location, so he pulled as hard as he could on the thread. The man looked shocked as he slammed into the decades old railings, which without warning broke off. The man tried to regain his footing as he slowly fell backwards, plummeting onto the railing two stories below.
CRUNCH
Walter stumbled, the exhaustion taking over, he saw a new blue screen in his head, but he didn't heed it and attention. He thought about the people in the same store as him, what happened to them? Did some at least leave? Quickly going down the stairs, he opened the emergency exit door, the sky a dark red as the light from the flames reflected off the smoke. A city on fire, a nation in ANARCHY.