As he lifted, Michael lost his grip as his left glove slipped. He scrambled, grabbing the man’s arm with his ungloved hand. The moment their skin made contact, a vision entered his mind. He was stunned for a moment as he suddenly knew the power of the man he was holding and how to use it. He snapped back to reality.
“Put him down here,” Saw said with an annoyed expression on his face. “You’re lucky you only touched something we’re going to dispose of, but make sure you put that glove back on and it doesn’t come off again.”
Michael carefully grabbed his glove off the floor and put it back on. As he did so, he noticed something strange. Small holes had formed on the palm of his hand, giving him a sense of déjà vu.
That’s the same pattern I saw in the vision.
He knelt and flipped the man’s hand over, revealing the same pattern.
What is going on?
“What the hell are you doing?”
Michael dropped the arm and backed away. “Sorry, I just thought I saw something weird on his hand and wanted to check it out.”
Saw’s face turned red, and he shook with anger. “Get out, go sit in the van and touch nothing.”
Michael quickly left the house and went to the van. He let out a relieved sigh when he sat down. He’d nearly vomited twice already today, and he doubted he could stomach a third time, especially with those tools Saw had brought in. He checked his surroundings, making sure no one was watching and that there were no cameras in the van, before removing his gloves again.
So I wasn’t going crazy, he thought, examining the pattern of holes in his hand. His vision had shown the man shooting jets of fire out of the holes. Michael focused, repeating the motions and feeling of the man. Jets of fire burst from his right hand.
“Haha, yes!” he yelled in triumph before realizing he had caught part of the van’s roof on fire. “Oh, shit.”
He frantically patted it out, only leaving behind a slight scorch mark. I need to be more careful. Hopefully, Saw doesn’t notice.
Michael spent the next several hours waiting for Saw with a large amount of joy in his heart. He still did not fully understand his power, but it looked like he wasn’t a null after all.
Saw jumped into the driver’s seat, exhausted and pissed off. He did not say a word to Michael for the entire drive back to his apartment building.
He muttered. “Get out,” when they arrived.
Michael hopped out of the van and waited for it to leave his vision before making his way to a nearby park. He found an old abandoned building that looked like it had once been used as a garden shed. Making sure no one else was around, he went inside and sat down. Turning his hand over, Michael repeated the same motions and watched with a glimmer in his eye as a jet of flame appeared. A spark of something he hadn’t felt in years played in his chest, and hope for the future reignited within him.
The following day, Michael woke up expecting another call from Saw, but none came. He shot Raymond a text to see what was up and hopped into the shower while waiting for a response. A few minutes later, he heard the phone buzz. Picking it up, he unlocked it, and he looked at Raymond’s response.
It’s not like the other jobs I have had you doing, kid. I don’t need a body disposed of every day.
Michael wrote back.
Then what other jobs do you have available?
He watched as the three dots appeared and waited for a response.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I need a driver for the day. If you are desperate ( I know you are :) ), meet me at the bunker in two hours.
Michael sighed, putting his phone down. He looked down at his hand, clenching it into a fist.
“I just need to figure my power out. Then I will show him what a real hero looks like.” Michael made his way down to the gym in his apartment building.
It was only a 30-minute drive to the bunker, so he got a good workout in beforehand. He was proud of how strong he had become. It was nothing compared to anyone with a strength-related power, but it still made him happy. A new sign-up sheet on the pin-up board caught his eye when he was leaving the gym.
Kickboxing lessons on Thursdays at 7 pm, hmm?
He wrote his name down and made his way out and down to the building’s parking lot. He found his old red sedan and hopped inside. It was all he could afford with the measly wages Raymond would pay him after taking a cut to pay off his debt. He threw on a pair of gloves that he had lying around and started the drive to Raymond’s bunker.
When he arrived, he made his way through a large warehouse, storing a ton of different goods. He waved to a few of the workers as he passed and walked through a normal-looking door leading to a back room. He entered the room and walked over to an electrical panel. He opened it and pressed down on a name tag displaying a brand name. It clicked into place, and a small portion of the brick wall peeled back, revealing a staircase leading down.
“Null! Glad you could make it. So, how was chopping up your first body?” Raymond asked in his usual mocking voice.
“I-”
“Rhetorical question, we both know you just sat in the van while Saw did all the work.” Raymond walked over to him until they stood face to face and whispered to him. “You’re a part of this family now, kid. Like it or not, I expect you to put in some real effort. Not just cleaning or collecting debt or driving me around town. No, I want you to get your hands dirty.”
He stepped back. “So, if I hear you end up sitting in the van again, so help me.” he gritted his teeth together in a half snarl before stepping back and straightening his tie. “I expect big things from you, kid… you’re not going to let me down again, right?”
“Yeah, sorry, sir.” Michael clenched his fists and tried to keep his face neutral.
“Good, then let’s go.” Raymond made his way toward the exit with the usual swagger in his walk.
It took every bit of restraint Michael had not to blast the man in the back of the head with a jet of fire. He knew Raymond likely had something prepared for just that situation, and Michael was not ready to risk it before fully understanding his power. He followed Raymond out of the bunker and to a black sedan that looked like it had never been driven before. Every inch of the exterior was polished to a mirror-like finish, and there wasn’t a scratch in sight. Raymond threw Michael the keys and climbed into the back seat.
“Where am I taking you today?” Michael asked, climbing into the car.
“The large office building off 2nd Street downtown.”
They arrived at their destination a little under an hour later. Michael parked in front of the skyscraper and watched as Raymond got out of the car.
“Wait here until I’m done.”
Michael sighed, slumping back in his seat. He knew Raymond would likely be in there for an hour or two, but he didn’t want to risk testing the man’s patience twice in one day. With nothing else to do, he pulled out his phone and flipped over to the news channel.
“Breaking news as Solaris-”
He let out a sigh nearly instantly, turning it off. He couldn’t stand Solaris anymore. Just his motto pissed him off the older he grew. “Wherever the sun shines, justice will find you”, what a joke. Justice shouldn’t just be looking where the sun shines. Not when the real monsters of the world know how to hide in the shadows. Michael leaned forward, resting his arms and chin on the steering wheel, and people watched until Raymond returned.
“How did your meeting go?”
Raymond climbed into the back seat with a wide grin on his face. “Very well. If everyone keeps their word, we should gain a lot of new business soon. It’s too bad you never got powers, Null. You could have been a great hero for hire.”
Not having powers seems better than that farce.
The heroes for hire were an idea Raymond had come up with a few years ago. His partnership with Wonder Boy had gone so well over the years that he started selling false heroes to other criminal organizations and shady businessmen. Hell, a few wealthy individuals had even hired some on as their personal bodyguards.
“Where to next?” Michael asked.
“Just back to the bunker. Oh, and Saw should contact you for your next job tomorrow. Don’t mess it up this time.”
Michael was leaving the bunker around an hour later. The sun had already set, and Saw would be at his place early the following day, so he rushed to make it home. Before heading to bed, he still wanted to get some more practice in with his firepower, so he made his way out to the abandoned shed again. He spent hours learning how to increase and decrease the flames’ intensity, careful not to light the roof on fire, and even do a pseudo form of flight if he shot them down with enough intensity.
“Oh shit,” Michael cursed when he finally looked at the time.
It was already far past midnight. He sprinted back to his apartment building. When he finally made it to his apartment, he threw his clothes off and collapsed onto the bed, hoping to get as much rest as possible.