“Thanks Tyler,” the girl said, happy that her brother had thoroughly explained her homework from the summer tutor.
The teen grinned; helping people always improved his mood. He brushed his auburn hair out of his face, his turquoise eyes gleaming.
“Eh, it’s nothing. Now, if you need anything else, ask. Otherwise, stay out of my room. I need to rest.”
Tyler joked. He and his sister weren’t perfect, but they got along as far as taking care of each other. And since both his parents worked, he really had no other choice.
He flopped onto his bed, unable to think of anything to do other than rest… He felt almost burnt out; he missed his friend, Dante.
And as he glanced at his window, he just felt the need to go outside and relax. And he thought,
“It’s cloudy and less freakin’ hot. I feel like now would be a good time. Like mom and dad would care if I just hung out in the backyard. Em’s got her window open anyway. Like anything’s gonna happen.”
He lightly chuckled and slipped on his tennis shoes and walked out the back door to his slightly overgrown backyard. He strided through a patch of tall grass near his porch steps and made his way over to his treehouse. He scurried up the ladder and slipped through its only door. But as he did, he noticed something odd as he peered out its only back window. Under him was his shed, where his dad kept lawn equipment, a normal thing. However, he noticed a gas generator with what seemed to be silver paint covering its tarp.
“Not like Dad to leave out paint like that… It wouldn’t hurt to check, I suppose.”
And so Tyler hurried down the ladder, hopped over the short wooden fence of his house, and made his way to the back of the shed. When he arrived, he was greeted with a pothole, which he tripped over, and he bonked his head on the bricks of the shed. Thankfully, the impact wasn’t very rough, and he dusted himself off quickly, where he was greeted by more of that silver paint now on the generator’s tarp.
“Is this… A prank? Did someone seriously vandalize- No. I know we’ve got some punks in this neighborhood, but I doubt they’d haul paint just for my house. Eh, might as well clean it. It was probably some animal getting into the paint cans we have…” He paused, noticing the grey clouds overhead.
“Might wanna make it quick, something tells me this overcast is gonna turn into a storm pretty fast-” He found a couple of unused rags in a bucket and used them to clean up all the paint.
“I still don’t understand how the paint just got spilled all over here.” However, the more he gazed at it, the less it looked like paint. It seemed… Otherworldly. And it had no scent. Strange, but Tyler literally and mentally brushed it off.
However, as he was finishing, some got onto him. And as he was about to wipe them off, he saw something strange. It seemed to be dissolving in his hands! This only confused the teenager, causing him to ignore the smell of sulfur in the air. Crash!
Tyler had been struck by something with enough force to fling him into the generator. And then he felt it. The burning sensation throughout his body, yet he was too in pain to scream. And then, it stopped. Just out of nowhere, the pain stopped as rain began to pour, thunder reverberating in the distance. He immediately picked himself up and made a mad dash to the house’s back door. He didn’t even care about what happened; he just had one thought in his mind. Run.
And once he made it through the screen door, he didn’t even bother to close it as he crashed into his living room, and he fell onto its gray carpet. The familiar softness was slowing his adrenaline and blood pressure. His heart’s beating fading into normality. Emily burst out of her room, spooked.
“Did you hear that?!” She yelled as Tyler nodded.
“The thunder? Yeah… I think there was lightning close by, too…”
He trailed off as his sister clung to him. They both shared a distaste for loud noise, especially the girl, who was terrified of storms. The silence was broken with a comment from Emily, “
You’re awfully cold… Were you out there?” The only response was a nod. The girl shuddered.
“Did you see the lighting?” Again, another nod from the boy. His sister sighed and mumbled,
“Dangnabit.” Eventually, Tyler got up and shuddered,
“You good? If you don’t care, I’m gonna just… Chill in my room. I need a minute.” His sister obliged, not commenting on the smoky smell near Tyler, and so he went back into his room to calm his nerves.
And yet, though he lay comfortably in his blue sheeted bed, his thoughts flashed like the lightning and rain pounding outside. He was so confused, though he didn’t say it aloud.
“How in the world did I even survive that? I mean, the luck I must’ve had and… I was thrown into the generator, wasn’t I? Or is it just the shock confusing me?” He gripped his head in bewilderment as he took a deep breath and groaned,
“I need a Dr. Pepper or something of that sort. Shame we don’t have any at the house… Maybe Dollar General will have some..?”
But the words and thoughts were barely out of his head when he was suddenly there. Outside the store, like some outside force pulled him there. He almost screamed, but somehow managed to compose himself.
“Um… What the heck? Did I, what? Huh?!”
He was too bewildered and mumbled, “No way this is a dream. I can feel the rain; no need to pinch myself.”
As he said this, he remembered he needed the money for the soda. And then, just like before, a force pulled him back to his house. He gasped but then chuckled,
“Okay. Definitely not a dream… Not sure why I thought that…” As he found his wallet and stuffed it into his shorts, which he now noticed smelled strongly of smoke.
“I wonder if this will survive the trip. I hope it does… Well, if my already burnt-ahh clothes can survive it, I’m sure the money can… I’m sure of it. Maybe.” He sighed as he suddenly pictured the store in his head.
Then, he was there, same as before. He strolled into the store despite the less-than-pleasant weather. As he looked around, he saw no one inside, save a singular female cashier. He went to the refrigerators that had the soda bottles as he began thinking of other places he could go.
“If I just think.” He mumbled. “I could go anywhere. Spain, Germany, England, Canada… Freaking anywhere.”
He pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper from one of the fridges when he had a thought.
“Actually.” He pondered. “Why not try it now?” He thought of a random country. He decided on Germany. After all, he had family there; why not pay them a little visit? After checking no one was looking, Tyer thought of the country as he had seen in pictures, but it was a little foggy. And when he felt it was right, he tried. He waited and waited.
“Come on… I know it’s halfway across the ocean, but come on.” He grumbled. But still nothing. Eventually, he gave up. “Now I’m sure it's no dream.” He went to grab another soda for his sister.
“So much for unlimited power.-” He stopped as he heard the sound of several men arguing.
As he was on the left side of the store, he peeked down an aisle to see what was going on at the registers. And oh boy, did he nearly jump out of his skin. At the registers, holding up the only cashier were five masked men in ski masks, all armed, with one man in a red mask pointing a gun directly at the register. Tyler was horrified. Never in his 14 years had he witnessed such an event. Garner was never a high-crime city, so this was a one-in-a-million chance. And boy, was the teen scared. He hastily checked his phone.
“Crap!” He mumbled, “Dead.” Tyler was shaking, his phone was dead, and he was unsure of what to do. He could teleport back home or to a Station, but he knew that: A, neither his sister nor the police would believe him if he told what happened. And B: If he tried stepping in. The lady would be killed.
But in that moment, Tyler’s compassion overrode everything else. He thought of a distraction, found a soda can, and gently rolled it out near the thieves to attract some attention. One of them took the bait and was immediately pounded into one of the shelves, miraculously knocking him out cold, without much noise.
Then, the teen crept to the right, carefully flanking towards the robbers, when suddenly, he heard. “Where’s Jackson?”
Another voice went, “Bro was supposed to be right here.”
A third chimed, “ Alex, Clancy. Screw it. Let’s go.”
And then, as Tyler peeked around the corner, there was a sickening chorus of “Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!” As the cashier, whose face appeared no older than 20, slumped on the floor.
The teen’s heart dropped dead at the sight, as the robbers hastily trudged outside (Presumably with the money). The boy quietly made his way towards the woman. He hopped over the register and checked the woman’s heartbeat. Nothing. He checked her pulse, trying to suppress his emotions and reason with himself… Still nothing, she was gone.
Tyler was bitter. Horribly bitter, as the sound of burning rubber echoed in the distance, but he didn’t seem to notice. Disgruntled and horribly guilt-ridden, he roared in unintelligible, guilty rage. His eyes glazed over as he punched the side of the clerk’s desk, denting it hard, nearly tipping it, though he didn’t notice. An eternity seemed to pass. The boy finally had a clear thought of his calm, peaceful room, and was transported right back to it.
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As soon as he arrived, he collapsed onto his bed, sobbing. Those gunshots ringing and pounding in his head like there was no tomorrow in flashes of horror. A few tears fell.
“Why?” He mumbled… “Why didn’t I do anything?” He recoiled as he envisioned the woman’s face.
Suddenly, a jolt filled his body as he picked himself up. He looked down at his hands. They were pulsing like circuits with electricity. Tiny bolts connecting between his fingertips.
He threw a couple of practice punches in the air instinctively. Tyler’s anger faded to realization. His breathing grew rapid as thoughts ran through his head.
“You know what? Those Taekwondo classes might finally pay off.” He bolted for his closet, digging through its numerous boxes and storage baskets.
Eventually, he found what he was looking for. A white Flash shirt, a slightly worn blue jacket with yellow on the notches and lapels, a pair of old yellow ski goggles from a previous Halloween costume, a neck gator (which he put over his head like a hood), and finally a pair of blue-and-yellow PumaPalermo Sneakers.
“Heck. Yeah.” He finally smiled, though it was very minuscule. “It’s time.” The teen mumbled. As he fast-traveled into the bustling suburb.
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After his arrival, Tyler scurried on top of the town’s Little Caesars and smiled, his hometown was quite beautiful, even in the summery North Carolina weather. As he gazed, wondering if anything would happen, he saw two masked men walk into a smoke shop, one in a black mask and one in a red mask.
Impulsively, Tyler rushed in, weaving through traffic in the road, and burst through the door of the store. The man in black barely made eye contact as he was suddenly struck down by a Superman Punch to his stomach. Once the teen’s feet hit the ground, he dealt an elbow strike to the same man, causing him to stumble over. The second yanked out his pistol and fired at the kid.
Tyler was struck and nearly fell, but he promptly realized that he felt nothing. The only damage was the entry hole in his suit. No blood. He got up and locked eyes with the man in the red mask, who muttered “Holy ****!”
Tyler recognized the voice, and his brows lowered under his goggles as he stretched out his hands and shocked the man. He cried in pain and convulsed onto his knees. Meanwhile, the first man got back up, clutching his ribs and aimed his gun at The Clerk. The teen noticed and sprang into action, and took the bullets, unharmed.
The shooter, stunned, reached for a booze bottle and threw it, but it missed. Tyler responded with a punch so hard it knocked the man into the wall. Then he stormed up to the man in red, who had stopped convulsing and was on his knees. The man was grabbed by the collar of his shirt, and his mask was yanked off.
The man reluctantly nodded, realizing he couldn’t fight back. He whimpered, “Don’t hurt me. Please, holy ****, don’t hurt me!”
His eyes had lost their cruelty, only cowardly fear. The teen almost smiled. But then, as he was about to say something, he saw the man running the register had pulled out his phone to record.
“Crap.” He thought. Tyler knew full well that if that footage were posted, his voice would be on the internet. He couldn’t afford his voice being out there, lest his parents recognize him. He gestured for the clerk to duck as he threw the gunman out the display window. He then walked up to him and saw the name monogrammed on his mask. “Clancy”.
Tyler decided not to touch the mask. “Don’t want the cops finding my fingerprints… I should probably wear gloves next time… Maybe.” He pondered.
He left the scene, disappearing in a blip of electricity. The store clerk, stunned and still recording, nearly dropped his phone and hastily called the police.
“Hello? Hey, the name’s Miles, I work at the smoke shop off Veterans Parkway.. I’d like to report a robbery.”
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Tyler arrived home and nearly collapsed on his bed, burnt out. And so was his costume; it reeked of smoke. He yanked it off, sprayed it with an egregious amount of Fabric Spray, and threw it behind his dresser. He huffed.
“That was… Weird… Everything went by so fast…” His gaze fell upon his dresser. The thought of the woman was still there.
“I did it. I stopped them.” His eyes lingered on the window on the other end of his room. After a short while, his eyes pulled themselves away from the glass.
“So here I am. Some random kid in blue and yellow saving that clerk.” He rolled his eyes, then felt rather bitter about himself. “Whatever. This was a one-time thing. I’m no hero. I’m not qualified for it.”
He groaned and flopped onto his bed, considering taking a nap. Whatever the problem was, he'd deal with it later. “The cops can do their thing. This is their job, not mine. I’m underqualified, and I’m just a kid.”
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and then Add to home screen.