CHAPTER 27
I started work on the website and I was just putting the finishing touches to it. I needed a concept that would draw clients my way and also eliminate every doubt they might have in mind. A couple of good reviews would definitely help with that because everyone checks the reviews of a site before doing business, I think it's just for affirmation before investing their hard earned money into strangers.
I was finally done with the website and did not make it too flashy but with the appropriate amount which made it seem like a normal website and not a sketchy one. Also the name needed to be direct, so I named the website 'The Architect.' Now I just needed at least three to four positive reviews and I think the clients would start pouring in, after all we are in the DC verse and people need help all the time.
I was exhausted so I took a bubble bath to wash away my fatigue, had dinner, then crawled into my bed like a koala before calling it a day.
…
Few days had gone by since I uploaded the website but still there hasn't been any request. Although I wasn't expecting one as soon as it was created, it has been days and still no client.
There was a location I had jogged by several times, and I took a look at it before discovering there was a lake beyond that point and it wasn't visible unless a person went in. It seemed like a good place to clear my head and now I wanted to visit that spot.
I sat on a bench near the lake which was surrounded by trees and the air there brought a sense of peace to me, I think it was just a remedy which was cooked up for me by nature. While sitting on the bench and staring at the lake, I saw some stones by the bank so I picked a few which were perfect for stone skipping.
While I looked at the stones, It gave me a nostalgic feeling as it reminded me of a game my best friend and I used to play each time we went camping by the lake in my previous life, a game where by we would skip some stones on the surface of the lake and whoever had the most consecutive skips had won the game.
I threw the first one and watched it make ripples on the surface of the water as it skipped towards the middle of the lake, I did the same thing to the second one as I felt the sense of nostalgia fill me up, it made me miss a childhood friend who made life fun for me back then. Filled with mixed feelings I threw another stone and noticed the speed was way different from the previous one and I did not apply enough effort to make it go that fast or far even.
I remember theorizing about my powers being vector based and I had been thinking of how to practice and this just seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something out with the stones.
So I calculated the speed of the stone, the weight, and the force I was about to apply to it. Immediately I had processed the information that was being fed to my brain just by the thought of manipulating the vector of that stone, I launched the stone I had in my hand and to my greatest surprise it flew so fast with an higher velocity, it skipped on the surface of the water till it got to the middle of the lake before it lost its momentum.
"That was interesting." I mused out loud and stared at the remaining stones.
I tried again and again till I was able to change the velocity of the stone at an effortless degree, I threw the stone with little to no effort but it flew with an amusing velocity.
I decided to try something else since no one was around and it was safe for me to use my powers around there, providing I kept watch for any incoming person.
I made use of my telekinesis then lifted a stone mid air with nothing but only a thought. I tried to change the vector of the stone but it was sent flying without any change in its velocity. It propelled according to it's weight and the force I had exerted on it mentally.
I repeated this process several times till I came to the conclusion that I could not change the vector of an object unless I made physical contact with it. I picked up another stone, a round one without any sharp or noticeable edge. I looked for a tree which was far from the others but not too far so it wouldn't be tiring to me when I decide to take a look after I was done.
I tossed the stone at the tree and a brief noise which was due to the impact of the stone suddenly echoed around the quiet lake. I went over to take a look at it and the stone was stuck to the tree, being almost completely submerged into it.
"Wow." I put out my hand to feel the stone which was almost buried within the tree. It started to seem fun for me so I did it over and over again until I had my fill of it, with each tossed it moved almost as fast as a bullet would. Nine stones were currently buried in a tree and would leave anyone in wonderment if they ever saw them.
The thought of buying that property and legally owning that spot crossed my mind, that way it would be private property and no sane trespasser would want to step into private property without permission. Anyone caught committing such an act would be arrested, a true definition of privacy. Well, thoughts for another day.
On my way home that evening I strolled along the streets as I basked in the comforting evening breeze. As I walked home I heard a scream from a nearby alley which was a few blocks away from my place and it was none of my business as to why that unknown person screamed. But it sounded like she was in real trouble and I couldn't care less because this is the DC verse and I'm sure such things occurs on a regular basis, even with the presence of heros.
I took a turn into the dark alley and saw two miscreants harassing a lady as they had her pursed on the floor with it's contents emptied and the lady was stripped half naked as one of them had a gun to her head, he told her to keep quiet or he would blow her brains out without a second thought.
I walked straight at them but stopped at a reasonable distance, when they noticed my presence they removed the gun from her head then pointed it at me.
"Walk away kid, there's nothing to see here." one said as he pushed her to the floor and directed his animalistic gaze at me.
"Well too late because I already heard her scream and I'm here now so we might as well do something, either you let her go and everyone go home peacefully and unhurt, or we do this the hard way and mind you there will be blood." I bluffed midway, I didn't know if they were metahumans like the one I witnessed Kid Flash engaged with or if they were just ordinary thugs.
I slowly approached the men and with each step they kept getting riled up and yelling at me not to go any closer.
"If you don't want me to come any closer. Let the lady go and we can all be on our merry way." I said to the men in a polite tone, letting them know I wasn’t looking to start any trouble.
"It seems this kid has a death wish, shoot him." The muscular one ordered his partner as he cocked his gun.
He aimed at me and took a canalized shot. On getting to me, the fired bullet was stopped by my deflective field as an air barrier which made ripples like water when a foreign object was dropped into it. The bullet deflected back at him and hit him on his right shoulder.
Haaa! He yelled out as he dropped the gun due to the sudden pain on that joint.
"You fucking bastard, that was literally an headshot." I said as I saw the look on both of their faces change, as one was frightened and the other had a more intense look on his face.
"You fucker you shot me." He grunted in pain as he held his bleeding hand.
"You shot me first dumb ass."
"Ran into one of you freaks before. You think you're some 'Flash'?" He leveled a knife at my head but even from this distance I could feel the minute vibrations from his unsteady hands. "Last chance kid, turn away." The muscular one spoke as he pulled out a second knife and charged towards me.
Midway to my position, I halted his movements with my telekinesis then slammed him against a wall to the left, then to the right, before throwing him up to a reasonable height as I let him fall. He accumulated some velocity as the gravitational force of the earth pulled him down, I added my telekinesis to increase the impact he had on the ground and for a brief moment he bounced on impact with the ground due to his excessive amount of muscles he had on him.
He was knocked out cold while the other stared at me with his eyes wild open, I guess I must have burned the feeling of fear and powerlessness into his memory.
"Your turn." I said in a calm tone as I turned to him.
"I'm sorry, please just let me go." He turned and ran towards the other side of the dark alley.
I helped the lady up as she looked at me still in shock of what had just happened. She regained her composure then I escorted her to the road as she took a taxi, she told me thank you with her watery eyes holding back some tears.
I headed straight home, I didn't want to be in the middle of anything when the cops or heroes showed up. Heroing isn't my thing but I just couldn't ignore an oppressed person in danger, especially if I could do something about it. That would make me some kind of heartless monster.
But one thing is clear, 'heroing isn't in my resume.'