Difference between revisions of "Mogul vs. Remnants Pt. VII: A New Beginning"

Revision as of 01:25, 20 October 2020

Chapter 79 (Remnant 5)

"Wake up. Tom."

Sam was knocking on my door. Chrissake. Time for school. I checked the clock. 6:30am. End me.

I struggled out of bed and changed out of my clothes, went to take a shower, you know, the daily grind. I don't know about you, but I tend to sweat a lot. Sleeping without clothes on, yes, I'm looking at you, Americans, seems weird for me. Like the clothes I wore going to bed were literally drenched. If I went in without clothes, I couldn't even imagine how bad the mattress and sheets would end up looking like.

I got dressed and noticed Sam had already prepared breakfast.

"Make some for me?" I asked.

Sam looked at me, as he ate the rest of the toast. "Nope. Let's go."

Sam and I walked to the bus stop. Another boring ass day. Boring ass degree, and boring ass life. Part of me wanted something to happen. Like... I don't know. An alien invasion. End of the world. Anything. This place sucked. This life sucked.

"Did you finish the assignment?" Sam asked me, as he shouldered his backpack.

My heart stopped. "There was an assignment?!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dude, you had over a week to work on it."

"Shieeeet..." I muttered. I completely forgot about it. Sam and I were classmates, studying Sciences in Uni. I roomed with him in our basement suite because my parents told me to move the hell out. Said I was too dependent on them. Well, they could screw right off. They weren't even my real parents.

As for why I'm studying Sciences, my parents told me to go and make something worth of myself, since I spent my high school days munching on chips and watching TV. So I did what everybody else in my grade did, and applied to Science to become a doctor. My grades weren't too great. But I'm sure it'll work out... somehow.

We walked to the bus stop. "When's the assignment due?"

Sam facepalmed. "It was due this morning, Tom."

"Oh. Well shit."

"Tom, this is like the third assignment you missed. You already failed the midterm. If you keep this up, you're gonna have to retake the course again."

The bus finally arrived, as he and I scanned our passes and sat on the seat. Someone caught my eye. She had green frizzy hair, and a really cute face. Damn. But it wasn't just that. It was her eyes. Green, bright green. Was it contacts?

Sam caught me staring. "Give it up, Tom. She probably has a boyfriend."

"You don't know that."

"What makes you think she's going to say yes to you."

"I'm charming. And I'm a college student. Chicks dig guys with money."

"Yeah. A failing college student."

"Shut up. I'm not a try hard like you, getting A+'s all over the board."

We sat in a seat in front of her, obviously. Sam wasn't too thrilled about it. I had to impress her, so I began talking to Sam about the assignment details.

"Hey, so if we do a phase shift like this, it should give the correct waveform right?"

"Uh... the due date is already passed dude."

"Well, I just wanna make sure I know my stuff. And with Beer's Law and the Eigenvalues giving the Eigenfunctions-"

Sam stared at me. "The hell are you even saying? None of that is related, you're just spouting random bullshit."

I punched him in the arm. "Ow! What the hell, Tom?"

I leaned in and whispered at him. "Dude, come on. Work with me. She needs to see how smart I am."

"But... you're not."

"Please man. Come on."

"At least make your convos make sense. Beer's Law has nothing to do with Eigenvalues. And Eigenvalues don't make Eigenfunctions you idiot. It's just a scalar."

"Ah.. I see!" I said. I glanced behind me, and the girl was inspecting me with those same piercing eyes. Damn! It was working!

We finally got to the bus stop. I looked behind me, and realized the girl had also got off, walking into the distance. Dammit. Well, I guess maybe next time. We walked to lecture, where I opened up my laptop and watched youtube the whole class. Sam gave me an annoyed look.

This continued throughout the day, as we finally finished classes and went back to the bus. Sam stopped. "Tom, I'm gonna go to the library to finish up my lab report. I'll see you back at the house."

"Cool. Catch you later."

I walked to the bus stop alone. It was night time. Yeah. I had classes from 8am to 7pm. It's actually not so bad, since there were breaks in between. But going home in the dark was shit. I didn't know what to do tonight. There was a lab report due, but it wasn't due till next week... so it wasn't technically due now. No need to work on it now. Too stressful ya' know? Probably might just hit up some Champions of Terra or something.

I continued walking, when suddenly, something caught my eye. A really really large man. My heart stopped. Was I hallucinating? The man had glowing red eyes. And he was... huge. Like steroid jacked huge. 7 foot tall, and everything. He glared at me sinisterly. Where was Captain Metro when you needed him.

Yeah. Nope. I walked faster and faster back to the bus stop. At late hours like this, the last thing I needed was to get mugged.

I finally got home. Thank god. That guy was giving me all the creeps. I opened the fridge and found a block of cheese. I stuffed it into my mouth. Good dinner. I went to my room and fired up my PC and received a notification. Mom. Great.

I called her, and her face appeared on the screen.

"Thomas King. Why did you not answer my calls?" She asked.

Going into full name. That wasn't good.

"Just got busy with classes, you know? Been a long day. Workin hard and stuff."

"Oh yeah? What's this about a missing assignment then? I saw your email."

My ears turned pink. Mom had access to my email. She knew if I was missing an assignment.

"Oh, I submitted it. It's probably just a glitch."

My mom looked stern. "Thomas, this isn't a matter of me being mad. If you refuse to work hard, you won't graduate and you won't get a job. Do you want to end up unemployed and homeless?"

I clenched my fist. All calls always ended up like this. She was onto me like a damn FBI agent. I hated her. I hated my life, being forced into this by my parents. I hated school, but I was enrolled anyway.

"Look, mom. I'll just study really hard in my finals. It's like 50% anyway. It'll cover everything up."

"And if you fail the finals?"

"It won't happen."

"It will happen. You're useless, your habits are terrible. I guarantee you, you won't pass your finals like this."

"Oh, well look at the time. It's getting late. Gonna hit the bed!" I said, inching my cursor to the end call button. I was clenching my fist so hard my knuckles turned white. I wasn't useless. I just was living a life I didn't want. Why couldn't anyone understand that?

I ended the call and lay in my bed, staring at the ceiling. My life was so shit. I didn't have any friends. No girlfriend. No supportive parents. I was failing all my classes, and my roommate was passing everything, as if he was just simply better than me in anything. I was unfit, from my diet of chips, and 7up all thought out high school.

If I could just... reset the board. Maybe I could have lived my life as a hero like Captain Metro or the Metro League or something. I hated who I was. This life I was given, it was so trash.

I got up from the bed. I couldn't sleep. I drank a lot of coffee in the afternoon because I was falling asleep in Chemistry. The professor was trash. I went up to the mirror, looking at my face. I was so ugly. My hair was a mess. And I had an odor problem.

I thought back to that cute girl I saw in the bus.

What makes you think she's going to say yes to you.

I gripped the counter, as I glared at my reflection. He was right. Why would she say yes to me? I was a loser.

"This is unfair." I muttered. "So unfair."

I looked at the trashcan. The dance. Sam already had a date with his girlfriend. And he wanted me to go, giving me the invitation. My vision turned red with rage. It was so easy for him. He was good looking. He was in the wrestling team. He had top grades and a girl who was studying medicine. A loving supporting family. Everything was going well for him. And then there was me.

He could never understand how I felt. I was ugly, stupid, had no friends. Hell, I don't even know my real parents. In fact I don't even know my past. I can't even remember anything from before high school. My step parents told me it was because I had below average memory. Meaning I couldn't remember as much stuff as a normal person.

I closed my eyes as tears ran down my face.

"Why..." I muttered.

"WHY AM I SO PATHETIC!" I screamed at my reflection.

"WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!" I slammed my fists against the counter as hard as I could. Of course, I was weak as hell, and ended up hurting my wrists.

I got up and sighed. There was nothing I could do. Just another mental breakdown as usual. I looked back at my reflection. My pathetic self. In my pathetic and boring mundane life. I went back to my room to sleep early. It was 9pm, but I didn't feel like gaming tonight. I was shit in Champions of Terra anyway.

Chapter 80 (Remnant 5)

I woke up in the middle of the night. Dammit. Sleeping early never worked for me. I would just end up waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to go back to sleep. Well. Here's to another day of falling asleep in classes.

I got up from my bed and walked to the bathroom to take a leak. I looked at the invitation again. My heart rate went up as I became angry. I finished up, and took the slip of paper. I walked to my room and took a bunch of textbooks. They were needed for me to do my readings, but screw them. I was going to fail my classes anyway. I couldn't take it anymore.

I opened the door and walked to the backyard and threw the textbooks and dance invitation on the ground. I went back to the kitchen and took a lighter.

I went outside and glared at the textbooks, lighting the lighter as I glared at the pile of crap.

"This ain't my life. I hate it. You guys put me through all this shit. I get it. I'm a loser. I'm stupid and I'm not going to be worth anything to this world. I have nothing to offer." I grumbled.

I fumbled with the lighter, and suddenly I dropped it, clumsily. It fell into the gutter.

"SHIT!" I shouted. Dammit. The lighter. Ugh.

I looked back at the textbooks. How was it that even trying to burn this crap away I would end up dropping the lighter.

"Fate, why you have to do this to me?! I don't WANT to live this life! Why can't you see this!" I shouted at the sky.

"I... I don't want this! I want to be someone better! But NOT LIKE THIS!"

It started to rain, as I felt the raindrops on my glasses. "Damn you! Damn you weather!" I angrily raised my hand to the sky.

I looked at the pile of textbooks, which became soaked with rainwater. I became angrier and angrier the more I looked at it. Sticking from within one of the gaps of the two textbooks, was the blue invitation.

My vision turned red with rage.

"You stupid piece of..." I growled, as I held out my hand, imagining everything being squished together into a single ball. I wanted it all to be lumped together, so I could throw it at the moon. This stuff... pissed me off.

I thought about Mom and Dad being disappointed in me, calling me a loser.

I thought about all the girls who rejected me, because I was ugly and I stank.

I thought about how Sam would always see himself as superior to me.

I thought about everything single time I would check my grades on the websites and seeing the class average a solid 20% higher than mine.

This ends...

"This ends NOW." I shouted, as I felt something in me snap. Suddenly, all the textbooks, to my disbelief, scrunched up, bending, ripping, and crushing together, wrapping into a ball. The ball became smaller and smaller, as it glowed green.

"Wha... what?"

I looked down at my body. I was... glowing green. What the hell was happening, what was this?!

I lifted my hand, and the textbook ball raised into the air. I steadily lowered in, imagining the ball suspended. It did exactly what I told it to. I willed it to slam into the ground, and suddenly, the ball smashed into the concrete road.

SMASH

I stared at the crater I had created.

"No... no way..." My look of surprise turned into a laugh.

"Ha...hahahaha. HAHAHA!" I... I knew it. I knew my life wasn't shit. I really was special.

I looked at the bricks and iron pipes that lay on the ground in the construction zone in the far end of our block. I looked at them and concentrated, as they all began to glow green. Lifting into the air, and bending it.

No... No way. Even iron?! Was there... could I lift something heavier? Maybe myself?

I concentrated on lifting myself, and before I knew it, I was levitating. I felt... free.

"This... this is amazing!" I cried, as tears of joy ran down my face.

"Up... higher... HIGHER!" I shouted, as I shot to the skies, the city becoming a mere splotch of tiny buildings. I laughed in excitement as I soared the skies. I heard that air got thinner the higher up you were, but I was breathing normally. In fact, I didn't feel cold. The green glow... it was like it was giving me protection.

I flew all across the sky. Was this what Captain Metro felt when he flew for the first time?

"YAHOOOOOOO!!!" I shouted.

"I'm free!!! FREE!!!!" As I flew faster and faster. I was a shooting comet, soaring through buildings in the night sky, then at the cliffs. I levitated in front of a large rock formation.

"Could I..." I held out my hand, and the entire freaking mountain lifted, glowing green. "NO WAY!" I shouted, hysterically.

This... this had to be a dream.

I lifted a piece of rock. If it was, I would wake up, if this hit me in the head. I willed it to shape itself into a club, and bonked myself over the head. The rock broke from contact from my green aura. Oops.

I willed the aura to turn off on my body, and made the club tinier, and bonked myself over the head. I fell backwards.

"Ouch!"

This... this wasn't a dream. This was real.

"I can't believe it..."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" I shouted at the sky. "THANK YOU! THANK YOUUUU!!!" I cried in joy. My life... my life had changed forever.

Chapter 81 (Remnant 5)

"Dude, you look like shit. Did you even sleep last night?"

I struggled to pick up the coffee pot. I spent the whole night screwing around with my powers that I didn't even realize I was far from home. I had to GPS my way back, and by the time I got home, I was too excited to sleep. Ended up with only an hour.

"Yeah... a bit."

We walked to the bus stop.

"Uh... Tom? You okay buddy?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're smiling... like really weirdly. You're not thinking perverted thoughts about that girl are you?"

"Nah. The hell. No way." I said, as we boarded the bus. I looked around, and scanned the bus, and found the girl, sitting in the same spot. I cheerfully sat at the seat in front of her.

Sam shook his head. "Dude, you keep doing this, she's going to be on to you."

"Who cares. I'm feeling unstoppable today."

The girl raised an eyebrow.

I spent the next few nights flying around the city, dressed with a long black peacoat and a grey hood as a night watch mercenary superhero guy. It was a cool costume idea I had back when I was little, imagining superheroes.

"Help! Leave me alone!" A voice appeared in the corner of my vision. I flew in, and landed in front of a bunch of muggers. The young man behind me cowered.

"Hey." I said, nonchalantly. Damn I sounded so cool!

"The hell?! Nah the hell is this. Please tell me I ain't tripping right now." One of the muggers said to his friend.

"Screw that. Shoot the freak!" They began shooting their bullets at me, but my green aura deflected it.

I held out my hand, smirking, as I yanked their guns out of their hands and aimed it back at them.

"Get lost!" I shouted, and they booked it.

I turned around. "No need to thank me, innocent civilian. You can call me the Grey Hood... huh?"

The guy I saved also ran away, calling the cops on me. "Yes... some floating man. He... He did something. I can't explain it. Please, I think he's a ghost. I... I don't know what happened please help me I don't think I'm okay."

Vigilantism was fun. Just the pure thrill of saving innocent people from crime, just like the heroes I see in the news. But the actual publicity was not what I expected.

Sam was flipping through the news as I munched on salmon and Cheetos. Sam had cooked the salmon, and I... well bought the Cheetos.

The news reporter was at the scene of the mugging where I was at last night.

"Sources say... a Floating Man, had stopped a robbery with what appeared to be telekinetic powers. This is another meta human spotted. Is he working with Captain Metro and his League? Is he an enemy? Who is this Floating Man? What are his motives? Stay tuned, on Channel 8 News!"

Floating Man. That was a cool name.

"Jeez. Another meta human? I've been seeing so many fakes out there these days. I'm calling BS until I see him for myself."

BS huh. Well, we'll see.

More nights passed, and the story of the Floating Man was circulating over the crime world. How did I know? Because they instantly recognized me.

I held out my hand, and numerous parcels of cocaine lifted into the air.

"Oh shit! The Floating Man!"

"Book it. Hey, Squad Seven, hold him off."

They began firing at me, and I held out my other hand, stopping the bullets. I watched as the truck drove off, and willed the entire road to be lifted into the air, stopping them dead in their tracks.

I slowly flew in, and willed the doors to yank open. Guys began shooting at me all around, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off of my body.

I flew into the air, and lifted my hand. As if I had the whole street within the palm of my hand, I lifted the pavement, the ground, the concrete into the air, as everybody stumbled and fell into the ocean.

I smiled, crazily. This was... amazing. So much power. So much power I could do whatever the hell I wanted. Good or bad. No one could stop me. No more being the loser. No more.

I slammed the entire pavement back onto the ground, knocking everybody unconscious, cocaine flying everywhere. I landed on the ground in front of the leader.

"Got any last words? Before I send you punk asses to the cops?"

The man wiped his nose, which was bloody. "You don't do this shit often do you. I can tell you're a kid. From how naive you perceive things."

"The hell are you talking about? I literally took down this operation myself."

The man sat on the ground as I could hear sirens wailing in our direction. "You think you're doing good? Ruining our business? Me and my men. We're trying to make a living. And you're screwing around. I'm doing this not because it's fun. I'm doing this to survive, put food on the table for my daughter. You're going about it like it's just another stroll in the park. Look around. All the damage you caused. Don't blame me for the way the law treats you."

I watched as the police began taking everybody away. I was about to fly off, when suddenly, one of the officers pointed her gun at me.

"Floating Man. You are under arrest for extensive damage to the city."

"The hell you mean I'm under arrest?!" I yelped. More and more officers joined her, aiming their guns at me.

One of them spoke into their coms. "Requesting back up. Floating Man spotted in 68th Avenue and Nuxon."

No... what the hell was this?! I was the hero... but they treated me like a villain.

"Guys... I swear. I'm on your side! Please, don't do this."

The officers continued aiming their guns at me as more and more cop cars pulled up.

How would Mom and Dad perceive this? Their son being arrested by the cops?

I would definitely get kicked from my uni.

Jobs would be impossible to find.

The only thing keeping me from losing every bit of prospects now was the fact that my face was concealed in a mask and a hood. My identity was hidden.

I couldn't be brought in. They'd reveal my identity. Hell to the no.

My body began to glow green.

"Floating Man is hostile. I repeat, Floating Man is hostile."

The cops began firing at me as the aura blocked their bullets. I flew to the sky. Higher and higher. Faster and faster. I needed to get away. Far and far from here. I felt a shockwave as I broke through the sound barrier, flying back home as fast as I could.

Chapter 82 (Remnant 5)

"Tom, you good buddy?"

I realized I spent the entire lunch hour staring at the table. I picked up my food and put it into a togo box.

"Yeah."

Sam sighed. "Look man, I know you're probably depressed from the exam grades. But maybe you're just not cut out for it. No shame in taking a break."

That was partly why. But that wasn't it. I was everywhere on the news. And my public image wasn't good. The Floating Man, although leading to a reduction in crime rate, was extremely controversial. Some people still felt that I didn't exist. And if I did, many didn't like what I was doing.

I was scrolling through Twitter, and there were numerous comments on the news tweets slamming The Floating Man for being destructive, reckless, and overall irresponsible with his powers. One comment said I needed to get locked up. Another tagged the Metro League official twitter account and told them to come and kick my ass.

I clenched my fist, causing some air to swirl around it from my telekinesis. All I wanted to do was be a hero like Captain Metro and the League. A night patrolman, a night avenger. Like Owl Woman or something. These people weren't respecting me. Even though I was doing my best.

It was as if this world was made to reject me no matter how hard I tried.

"Okay, guys. Once the timer hits, stop writing. You may begin... now."

I opened the page to my Math midterm. Immediately I had no idea what I was looking at. The hell was this integral. Was that a sine in a cosine?!

I flipped the page, skipping the question. I skipped another and another.

I was four pages in until I finally found something I could do. An easy derivative. I looked at part b. And... I skipped that too.

I flipped through my exam. Welp. Maybe if I got scaled up I could end up with a D+? Did they even offer that? Or did they just drop me down to an F. Surely they gave out D's for this class...

Screw me. Ugh. I hated this. I just wanted it to be over. My leg began bouncing restlessly. I stared at the clock. Tick tock. Tick tock. I clenched my fist, and suddenly, the clock momentarily glowed green. The sides bent inward and crushed, causing everybody to jump in surprise. The clock sparked as it busted up in the ceiling.

"Oh shit!" I whispered. I broke the clock!

I thought the breaking of the clock would delay the exam, but instead the professor just brought in a digital one. Great.

"Damn, that midterm was hella easy!" Sam said, as he and a bunch of other keeners discussed exam answers. I left them alone as I walked across the building, my hands in my pockets. Ugh. Another day, another failed midterm. Mom was gonna kill me.

I watched as a young woman walked down the street. A big and bulky man got up, and began following her. A stalker? I had to do something, but I couldn't jump to conclusions. I was in a shit mood tonight, but justice needed to be done. I ended up following the stalker. So I was stalking a stalker who was stalking another person.

There was no time to change into my clothes. I left them back at the house.

I followed the two down the street, when suddenly, the girl was cornered. The man slammed her against the wall.

"Stop!" She shouted, but the man put his hand on her mouth, as she dropped her pepper spray.

Dammit! I had to do this without showing my face. My clothes... if I did anything and my picture was displayed, people would recognize it to be me. Even if I was a loser, Sam would know instantly, and knowing him, he would tell everyone.

So I either had to do this stealthily (which isn't going to happen), or I find a way to destroy her phone and other cameras.

Luckily, her phone had dropped on the ground. The woman struggled as the man held her down.

I ran in and put on my hood, holding out my hand. The man looked surprised as he began to glow green. I lifted him into the air and slammed him against the wall.

The woman panted frantically, reaching for her phone.

I held out my other hand, and the phone slid across the floor and into my hand.

"Give that back! Oh god... you're... you're him! The Floating Man! Please! Don't hurt me!" She sobbed.

"If I give it back to you, promise you won't take pictures of me and post it on Instagram."

"I'm just going to call the cops. Please. I-"

The man got up, grumbling. "Stupid kid. You're the Floating Man. You've ruined the lives of so many people. I'm gonna kill you. You're not the only person in this city with gifts."

I looked at him. "Gifts? What are you talking about."

The man glared at me, and his hands began to glow blue, air swirling around them. The woman stumbled back. "Oh god... what the hell are you people?!" She immediately ran away.

"Hey! Lady, your phone!" I shouted after her, but not before the man fired a blast of energy at my chest, launching me into the wall.

My aura was not turned on, and I felt a rib snap. I screamed in pain, and fell to the ground. Holy crap I was gonna die!

The man approached me, menacingly. He blasted another beam of light, but I glowed green, flying into the air. If only my rib could... wait. I concentrated, imagining my rib coming back together, and suddenly, the pain disappeared. I healed myself!

"That's... so sick." I muttered. The man fired another last of energy, but I held out my hand. The energy stopped. The man's eyes went wide.

What the heck was this? How did he have powers? Did he awaken them the same way I did? At the same time? How did I not hear about these powered people before? I thought the only people in this world was Captain Metro and his band of superheroes... the fact that there were more of us...

I shot downwards, standing in front of him. I was still holding the orb of energy he had created as he slowly backed away.

"You... you can control energy too... how is your telekinesis so strong?!"

I concentrated at the concrete around his feet, and willed it to create a trap to keep him from moving. The concrete rose up and trapped him at his ankles as he struggled to get out. He tried to aim his hands at the restraints, so I willed a nearby dumpster to reshape into a pair of cuffs around his wrists.

"First, answer my question. How many other people like us are out there? People with gifts. Who aren't in the league."

The man glared at me. "A couple. Very few, but a couple. We just don't go about showing it off like you did. Because of you, people are on to us. The League and Captain Metro is on to us."

There were more people like me. No way.

"Look, just no more stalking girls. Cool? It's hella weird."

The man looked at his restraints, and popped them off with a widened version of his energy blast. Then he blasted the concrete foot things out of the way. "I do whatever the hell I want. You just focus on stop giving us meta humans a bad name."

He walked off, as I closed my fist, willing the orb of energy to dispel. The phone I had in my hand was still on the ground. It was evidence, and the lady was probably already going to the cops with the information. I pointed at the phone, and it crumpled into a metal ball. I lifted it into air, and willed it to shoot far into the sky. Far far away.

Chapter 83 (Remnant 5)

The next few nights consisted of me stopping robberies and crimes and quickly dipping out before law enforcement arrived. People started to see me as a vigilante, who had good motives. Which was great. They still thought I was reckless as hell though.

"This is an exclusive: Captain Metro himself! What are your thoughts on The Floating Man? Will you make an effort to contact him?" The news reporter said, pointing the microphone at Metro. He looked like every comic rendition of a superhero. Combed hair. Bright colors and cape. He looked heroic. And then there was me. I looked cooler, obviously.

"FM looks like an edge lord if you ask me." Hailey said, as she sat with Sam on the sofa watching the TV. Sam smiled.

"Yeah. He kinda does."

"And he looks so skinny, I bet you would beat him to a pulp if he didn't have any powers."

Hailey is Sam's girlfriend. If that wasn't obvious enough. I hated her. Always talking shit. And Sam always agreed with her. It wasn't just the Floating Man. It was basically everything. She always had something mean to say about me, and Sam would laugh along. I couldn't do anything, because if I talked back Sam would threaten me.

Captain Metro took the microphone. "Thank you, Miss Reeva. Yes, The Floating Man. If you are watching this, I have a message for you. Come see me. Your actions are not only irresponsible, they are destructive. It is one thing to fight for justice, it is another thing to do it in a manner that harms others. Cease your vigilantism, or face the consequences."

I clenched my fist. Unbelievable. I was doing the right thing. Why wasn't anybody seeing that? Why wasn't Captain Metro, the guy I looked up to, seeing that?

Metro continued. "What you are doing, is similar to a super villain. You aren't being a hero. You're being a child. If you choose to continue this, I will have no choice but to bring you down to justice. My League will make sure this city is safe."

I switched the channel.

Hailey got to her feet. "What the hell Thomas? We were watching!"

"Come on, don't you care more about Instagram than this."

"Yeah, but I always watch the news for Captain Metro. He's so hot. Also Sliver-Shot. He's cute too. Right, Sam?"

Sam nodded robotically. "Yep."

What a god damn simp!

I went to my room. "Whatever."

I could hear Hailey calling me names as I closed the door. I opened my PC and stared at all the shit I had due. Lab report. Three assignments. Two papers. And of course, another quiz.

"Screw this." I muttered, and closed my school website, and fired up Twitter. I knew I shouldn't have, but I had to see for myself. Surely there were people who took my side... right?

"Trending in Canada: Captain Metro vs. Floating Man"

Welp. At least I ended up on trending.

I scrolled through hordes of tweets and replies, searching for something positive. Two minutes had passed and I didn't see a single comment that supported me.

"Floating Man is what happens when a 13 year old suddenly got powers and decided to do whatever the hell he wants. Pathetic."

Another comment bashed my appearance. "Does he think he looks cool with the hood? Cringe."

A bunch of them were siding with Metro. "Captain Metro is right. He's a child. I hope he finds FM and teaches that kid a lesson."

There were a bunch of polls that matched me up against the Metro League.

Literally no one voted for me. There was one comment, some smart-ass that wrote

"Captain Metro alone takes this lol."

I closed Twitter. I looked at my uniform. My long black peacoat and grey hoodie and black mask + jeans. Did I look like an edge lord? I still wanted to go out on patrol. Maybe if I kept doing what I was doing, people will eventually see I mean well. I mean, hard work pays off and shit right?

I looked back at the pile of work I needed to do. I saved all the assignments on my Desktop, which I still don't know why. It's not like I do them anyways.

Looking at them made me want to hurl. Yeah. Nah. I'm going out. I slipped on my uniform and silently opened the window, putting a ball in another hoodie to pretend I was asleep on the bed. I pulled out an Arduino controlled motor thing that I got my classmate to build for me and put it under the sheets to pretend I was shifting in the bed.

I closed my eyes and glowed green as I flew out the window and into the night sky.

I soared through the night sky, looking for crime to stop. There wasn't much. I guess people were onto me, knowing I would be patrolling the city at night. Damn. It's been a few nights in a row where I couldn't find anything. At least crime was at a low. It was always low, what with the Metro League. But now with my help, it was even lower. If only people could see that.

I sighed, as I landed on the top of the high-rise. I sat on the bench.

You aren't being a hero. You're being a child. If you choose to continue this, I will have no choice but to bring you down to justice.

"This isn't fair." I muttered. "I just wanted to help people with my powers. I lived my life a loser, and now I got a chance to make something of myself, and people are trying to stop me."

I clenched my fist, and the cable box in front of me burst into sparks as I accidentally crushed it with my telekinesis.

"A bit reckless with your powers, aren't you?" A girl's voice appeared behind me. I spun around.

"Who the... wait." I recognized her immediately. The cute girl on the bus!

She walked up to me as I stood up. "Hey, before you freak out and call the police, let me explain myself. I'm just trying to be like Metro. I'm a hero. Like him. I'm not evil-"

"I know." She said. She walked to the railing. How the hell did she find me up here? Better question is why was she even up here?

"What do you mean you know? Who are you?" I asked, cautiously.

The girl looked at me with her piercing green eyes. "My name is Merrow Rivenlight. I wanted to talk to you this entire time. But I think now is not the time to reveal anything. I want to see you grow with your powers first."

"This entire time....?"

My head suddenly flashed. What the... Was this a side effect from my powers? I saw images of a kid who looked like me. Maybe a little older. I thought I looked edgy. This kid had a long coat like me, but his hair was so long it covered his face in black and magenta highlights. Who the hell was this kid?

"Ack. What the... hey!" I pointed at the girl, but she was already gone.

"The hell?" I muttered. What was that? Come to think of it, weird shit had been happening this month. That crazy giant man from the shadows stalking me. The girl. It started with the giant man, then my powers, then this. Something wasn't adding up. But at least I had powers now. Beats whatever shitshow of a life I was living.

"The Floating Man. You are a hard man to track, despite being so public." A voice appeared behind me. I turned around.

"Ah... you're shitting me." I muttered.

I faced the three superheroes who were behind me. I recognized all of them. The one who spoke, was Lady Liberty, the world's strongest woman. The one on the right was Stormlight. The weather hero. And the one in the center, was none other than the man himself.

Captain Metro regarded me, crossing his arms. "Come peacefully with us, Floating Man. Or we will have to use force."

Chapter 84 (Remnant 5)

Ooh. Superhero showdown. Isn't that awesome. Well, sorry to let you guys down. But there's no way I was going to spend the night fighting these guys. I had school tomorrow.

I glowed green and shot backwards, flying away, as Metro and Liberty flew after me.

They were fast, and were closing in. I concentrated and willed my body to propel faster. A giant sonic boom blasted from me as I broke through the sound barrier. I zipped through buildings, high-rises, traffic, as I flew across the city. Metro and Liberty were still behind me. They weren't closing the distance... did that mean I was faster than them?

"Sweet." I muttered.

My luck didn't last long, because Lady Liberty immediately threw her lasso at me, trapping me in midair. I stopped and the two closed the distance.

Metro flew close to me, crossing his arms. "What are your motives, Floating Man?"

Liberty tightened the lasso around me. "You shall answer Robert- I mean Metro."

Metro's eye twitched. "Ermm yes. What she said."

"I..." Ah shit. The Lasso of Honesty. Screw me.

"I want to be a super cool hero. I got my powers by trying to set my textbooks on fire. I have a hard on for Lady Liberty. I think she has a huge ra-"

"Ok, stop talking." Liberty commanded. Thankfully I shut up.

Metro regarded me with critical eyes. "You are still an amateur and inexperienced. Judging from your age, you're still a child. Go back to school, finish your degree. Have a girlfriend. Be happy. You don't want to live a life as a hero. Trust me."

I stared at the traffic from below. People were starting to get out of their cars and film us with their phones.

"Go back to school? Have a girlfriend?" I whispered. My heart rate going up as I felt myself getting angry.

Liberty tightened the lasso around me, but my aura kept me from buckling. I glared at Metro.

"Be happy? What the hell do you know about my life? I lived my life a loser. My entire damn life! I would do anything to stay away from it! You're not taking that from me, Captain Metro."

I glared at Lady Liberty. "I don't need the Lasso of Honesty to tell you guys this. I hated who I was. I'm not going back!"

Metro shook his head. "The life of a hero is a brutal one. Please. Go back to whatever you were living before. I guarantee you it will be better than-"

I had enough. I willed the Lasso to stretch, to rip apart, and suddenly, the whole lasso exploded into bits and pieces. Liberty's eyes widened.

"The Lasso of Honesty... impossible!"

Metro scowled, as he zoomed in and grabbed me by the face, flying high.

"Let... let me GO!" I shouted, as I launched a punch at his midsection. I wanted the punch to send him flying away, and suddenly, my telekinesis paired with the punch, sending a massive blast of force at his midsection. Metro grunted as he took the hit head on, and the shockwave of the strike parted the clouds. I watched as Captain Metro shot backwards, flying into the ground miles away like a comet.

I stared at my hand.

"TK with punches... it's like super strength!" I muttered.

"Floating Man..." Lady Liberty growled, as she floated up to me. She looked downright murderous. Oh no. I triggered her alternate form, Lady Anarchy!

Lady Anarchy flew in and I held out my hand, stopping her dead in her tracks. Anarchy growled and snarled at me, trying to fight my telekinesis. I saw a boom as Metro flew in, and I held out my other hand, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Suddenly, the air around me became windy. I started to lose focus as the two superheroes began to inch closer to me.

Stormlight! I forgot about him!

Stormlight levitated to me. "This ends now, Floating Man. By fighting us, you have shown your true nature... as a supervillain!"

"No!" I shouted desperately. "I'm just trying to..."

I looked at Anarchy, who growled at me, threatening to rip my balls out. Metro glared at me, trying to fight through my TK. What the hell was I doing? Fighting the Metro League?

"No..." I muttered. I concentrated, and willed a giant sonic boom of power that neutralized the storm, sending all three superheroes flying back.

I needed to get out of here. I zipped away, faster and faster, faster than Metro and Liberty. As fast as I could. Mach 1. Mach 2. Mach 3. I needed to get out of here.

There was no going back.

Chapter 85 (Remnant 5)

"Remember everyone, when you're converting units, don't forget about the Kelvin! The reason for this is blah blah blah blah blah blah blah."

My eyes were getting heavy. I couldn't keep this up. Was I really making a difference, doing this night thing? It felt like my very presence did more harm than good. Yes, less crime was in the streets, but the problem was... the city was thinking I was the crime.

My fight against the Metro League went viral. It was literally everywhere on the internet. Trending worldwide, a bunch of people recording my confrontation with Liberty, Metro, and Stormlight. Was it great to be known? Sure. But was it great to be known as a villain. No.

Brought up a loser. Got powers, and rather than living a life of a hero, I was considered a super villain. I didn't want this. But it was this or... well...

I looked at my notes, which were blank. The prof was already done half of the slide deck, and I wrote nothing down... again.

Sam scrolled through Twitter, and his numerous DM's. He had already finished going through the slide deck, and sat in class going on social media. He shook his head.

"I knew this Floating Man guy was bad news. He's definitely dangerous. I hope the Metro League puts him down. This video confirms it. A real super villain, can you believe it?"

I felt sick to the stomach. "Yeah, sounds terrible." I grumbled.

Sam and I walked back to the house after another pointless day of classes.

"Hey, Tom. Do you want my notes man?"

"Nah."

"Listen dude, you need to at least put in some effort. You're gonna fail."

I looked at Sam, and for once he had a concerned expression. That made me feel a little bit better.

"Sure. Fine. Just send it to me on Facepage."

Sam smiled, and it felt great. We were getting along, finally. Well until Hailey and her friends came over.

"Yo Sam." One of her friends said, pushing me out of the way. I felt like one of those pebbles that go down the numerous paths in those games where it tries to end up in the right gutter at the bottom. Three or five big guys shoved me out of the way as Hailey kissed Sam in front of me.

And like that, Sam began to ignore me.

I walked back to the house alone. My hands in my pockets. I walked by a poster that caught my attention. It was just a normal ass poster about clubs and pre-med societies. But at the corner, a little bit of graffiti.

"Floating Man is real justice. #EndMetro"

End Captain Metro? That made me uncomfortable. I didn't want to be known as the guy who encouraged this. At the end of the day, Captain Metro and the Metro League risked their lives to make this world a better place.

I spend the night patrolling, flying in the skies with my telekinesis. My coat fluttering in the wind as I soared past the high rises. Making sure I wasn't seen. The last thing I needed was a bunch of people calling the cops.

I sat on the rooftop, and turned on the police radio.

Something was up. Some kind of deal. At least, that's what the radio said. I pulled out my phone and typed in the address, and flew in as fast as I could.

"Heading somewhere?" A voice said, as I suddenly felt weak. I jolted to a stop, and turned around to see a super heroine with pink hair and a devilish smile on her face. Streamweaver.

It still felt weird, seeing these superheroes face to face. The fact that they saw me as an enemy didn't help.

Streamweaver tightened the cords around me. "You know, I'm not like the others in the League. While Metro and the others are merciful... I'm not so much. Especially to those who get nosy in our business."

"Nosy...?" I asked. I looked down. The drug deal, one of the people... his face. Swept and combed hair.

Captain Metro?

I looked at Stream again. "He's just going undercover right? So you guys got this. Listen, I'm not here to cause any trouble. If you guys are dealing with the deal then I'm cool. I'll leave."

Stream frowned. "No. I don't think that's going to happen. You know too much."

"What?"

I suddenly sensed something. Something from her. It was... panic. Like...

"To answer your question, yes. He is going undercover. We are going to infiltrate the drug operation. Do not interfere."

Somehow I knew she was lying. It wasn't deduction. No. It was... like I could sense her lying. Her emotions were emanating from her like how I could sense the TK energy from myself.

"I can... sense emotions!" I muttered.

Streamweaver's eyes widened.

"Shit. I shouldn't have said that out loud."

Streamweaver turned to Metro, then spoke in her coms. "Kill them. Kill them all. Floating Man is onto us."

Metro glared at me, from the ground several feet below. I didn't need my empath powers to know he wanted me dead.

Suddenly, Metro grabbed the nearest drug dealer, and snapped his neck. I stared at him in shock.

"You... you killed him!" I muttered. Suddenly, Stream tightened the strings around me, and threw me into the air. She zipped in, her streams becoming razor sharp, and lashed them at me. I looked at them and willed them to stop, then willed Stream to be suspended in midair.

"Cap! Need your help! Floating Man's got me!"

Metro finished firing his eye beam, which incinerated almost 90% of the criminals.

"Switch with me, Steamweaver."

Within the span of a second, Metro closed the distance between him and I, and I was face to face with who I had thought I known growing up. The symbol of justice. Of truth. Of integrity. The mighty Captain Metro. The greatest hero.

"I'm sorry kid. But you've seen too much. I have to eliminate you."

"Why... why are you doing this?!" I shouted, but Metro reeled his fist back, and punched me in the face. Luckily, my aura absorbed most of the shock, but it still hurt like hell as I was sent flying, bombarding shipment crate after shipment crate. The horrific sounds of metal grinding on concrete and massive booms as huge crates fell to the ground.

Chapter 86 (Remnant 5)

I got to my feet, groggily. Metro landed on the ground instantly, creating a shockwave.

"Why... why are you doing this, Captain Metro?"

Metro regarded me. "Kid, you wouldn't understand. It was what I told you from the very beginning. Being a hero is brutal. It is tough. Because sometimes you need to do things... that is often contradictory to the means of being a hero. Things that require you to lower yourself, to protect others."

"By helping people smuggle drugs?! By being a criminal?!"

Metro shook his head. "So naive."

He zipped in and tried to grab me, but I held out my hand, willing everything in my vision to repel backwards. Everything in front of me glowed green, and massive wind pressure and force slammed into Captain Metro as he flew backwards, slamming into a ton of crates.

I stepped forward, when suddenly a bunch of surviving drug dealers began shooting at me. I instinctively stopped the bullets by looking at them, the green bullets suspended midair.

"Kill them. Kill them all!"

"Even the Floating Man?"

"Yes!"

I put my hands up. "No! I'm. I'm not on his side. I just..." I had no idea what to say. I was technically here to stop them. But now I was here to save them, from who I thought was a superhero.

Metro flew into the air, lifting a giant crate into the air, and throwing it at me. I held out my hand and crushed the entire thing, hurling it back at Metro, but he blasted it into cinders with an eyebeam.

There was nothing but chaos. I had to fight both Captain Metro and Streamweaver. And the drug dealers.

I flew into the air, but was held down by Stream. I willed the fibers to break apart as I flew higher. Metro chased me, as Stream redirected her attacks on the survivors. No... They were gonna die!

I had to do something, but Metro was on to me. I needed to get rid of him. No matter what. If I pushed him away, sent him to outer space, his Hyperspeed would catch up. He would keep coming after me no matter what. If I couldn't eliminate Metro, Stream would kill all those people down there.

I couldn't let that happen.

Metro flew at me, his fists ready.

"I'm... I'm so sorry Captain Metro..." I muttered, as I held out my hand. I remembered seeing him on TV during my high school years, wishing one day I could be like him. I was told it was impossible and that I was retarded for wishing to have superpowers. But... he was justice. He was loved and he had fans. I wanted that. I was loved by no one.

Metro suddenly began to glow green, as he stopped midway, staring at me.

"I have to do this." I said.

Metro looked at me, his face pure of agony, as I willed his joints to break. His bones breaking from the intense pressure of my telekinesis.

"If you do this, Floating Man. You will live a life truly as a villain." He said.

Tears formed in my eyes, as I ripped the mask out of my face. "Captain Metro... why did it come to this? You were a hero. You were my hero!"

Metro regarded me. "Kid, that's just how it is. This is real life. It isn't a comic book. The longer you fight crime, the longer you live your life as this so called superhero, you will realize that life as a hero and life of crime. In the end it's the same thing. You want justice. You want chaos. You want to do the right thing. You want to survive."

Another bone broke as Metro yelled in pain. Stream looked up.

"Captain Metro!" She screamed, as she latched her streams onto nearby crates and launched herself at me.

"I'm gonna kill you, you little shit!" She growled.

Metro looked at me with a sad expression. "At the end of the day, the things we do... is to get what we want. And that's why... to keep everyone safe. I must do this."

His eyes began to glow red, to fire an eye beam at me.

"NO!" Streamweaver and I screamed at the same time.

I clenched my fist, and a massive shockwave emanated from Captain Metro's neck, as I snapped it. His head went a full 180, as Stream was sent flying backwards, slamming into a construction crane. The crane exploded from the high energy streams interacting with the electronics inside.

I flew in and took Metro's lifeless body. Tears in my eyes.

I slowly lowered myself down, as cops and cop cars. Military. SWAT. You name it. They circled me. The drug smugglers were all arrested. The place was full of bodies, and I landed on the ground, with another to add onto the count. The body of Captain Metro.

I stared at the ground as I gently laid Captain Metro's corpse on the floor. Everybody had their guns aimed at me. Military choppers and tanks. All aiming their weapons at me.

A news helicopter zoomed by, as a huge spotlight was cast on me.

"Yes, Daryl. This is reporter Hans Travis here with Channel 8 breaking news. The Floating Man... this is terrible. This truly is terrible."

I watched as more and more military and law enforcement rolled up.

"FLOATING MAN. PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND SURRENDER YOURSELF, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE." A voice boomed from a megaphone.

The news reporter. "On this day. On this hour. The great Captain Metro has been killed by the villainous Floating Man. What will this mean to the world? With our hero gone? What will this mean?"

I looked into the sky. My own face was plastered everywhere on the cameras.

The headline. "FLOATING MAN IDENTITY REVEALED. CAPTAIN METRO MURDERED."

My identity. Everything I was. It was all gone, in the span of one night. Because of my decision to save these people, I became labelled as the villain. When in the end, I was the only person here who did the right thing.

At the end of the day, the things we do... is to get what we want.

I stared at the ground.

The military megaphone went off again. "FLOATING MAN, THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. SURRENDER YOURSELF, OR WE WILL ENGAGE."