Chapter 9: A Proposition
Transfixed as I watched it all happen on the train platform, the beggar jumped on his feet and began running as fast as he could, in the opposite direction the judges came from.
Only he had barely covered a distance of twenty feet when, a tall lightly muscled built judge triggered his wind ability, easily catching him in the blink of an eye as he began to exact justice.
He began beating the beggar vigorously with his baton, with the beggar barely making a sound. Instead, he did everything he could to latch on to the squeezed notes in his hands. Scrunched over with his belly on the ground, leaving his back exposed in a bid to control it.
"I can't imagine how people like that without powers can survive. Wouldn't it be better for him to simply kill himself," said a voice from behind me jarring me awake and back to myself, as I stopped watching the beggar that was being led away.
"What...," I said with confusion stamped everywhere on my face, as I turned around the second I heard the strange voice which I was standing too close to me.
"I have a proposition for you," said the tall stranger with tired eyes from behind me, dressed completely in black.
I turned around to get a good look at him, noticing the weirdly shaped hat with feathers on it that wasn't common and big shoes, that made me feel like he rarely walked.
"Really... but you don't even know me," I replied, wondering if the man, now standing in front of me was one of those scammers the Media stations warned people to avoid.
"I have no money and from the number of silver notes I saw you toss around, I know for a fact that you're very rich," I said taking a step back, already thinking of walking away if the man turned out to be tricky or sly.
"Like I said, it's more of something I can give you. On the train, I noticed your No-Ability card and I can give you one. An ability." the man whispered loud enough for me to hear, as he looked directly into my eyes almost as if he was trying to analyze the kind of person I was.
For a second, I looked at the no-ability card I squeezed tightly in my hand and I couldn't help but inwardly scoff at myself.
"An ability? If you could give abilities then you'll definitely be one of the seven heroes," I teased not believing a single word he said.
The man in front of me only sighed, shaking his head in exasperation before speaking again.
"Imagine that what I just said is true, would you take it?" He asked.
"Of course! I would take it in a heartbeat. And assuming what you're saying is true, I doubt you'll just give it away for free...," I said, speaking my thoughts out loud.
I had nothing left to lose. The truth was that without any power I truly was better off dead, rather than being a burden to my mother.
"I don't have money and neither do I have any abilities. What could someone like me do for someone like you?" I asked scrutinizing the man's black but rich clothes although they looked strange, they seemed to be made from unique and expensive fibers.
"I want a promise. A promise to do something for me after you get the power," clearing his throat, right before he began to vigorously cough into a handkerchief for more than five seconds straight.
With a worried look while also taking a step back, I paid more attention to the appearance of the man in front of me, noticing how pale he looked and how his shoulders seemed to sag, in a way that made it seem like he carried the weight of the entire world on his shoulders.
"Why am I entertaining him? He probably wants to use me as an experiment or something. No one can give powers if they don't awaken them themselves," I thought to myself as I continued to stand there.
"I'm alright," was his first response, noticing the wary expressions I suddenly had on my face.
"Do you agree to do it?" The strange man asked, showing how impatient he was for an answer.
"I don't," I said with a note of finality in my tone, dipping both hands inside my pants to convey the confidence I wasn't exactly feeling.
"I'm still young and there are instances of people getting their ability late and I don't trust you. Why the hell would anyone have more than one ability and want to give it away? You look like various shades of something I need to stay away from," I honestly explained not hiding an iota of whatever I felt I needed to say, before turning around, to walk away not wanting to hear any more of whatever the man in front of him had to say.
I was slowly walking away when I suddenly felt a huge hand land on my shoulder from behind.
I jerked away from the weight on my shoulder and was even more annoyed than upset to see the tall man's face when I turned around to see who it was.
I opened my mouth to vent when a card was swiftly handed and tucked into my left pant pocket where my hands were still tucked into.
"To most people, I'm known as Mr. Black. Call the number on the card if you change your mind," Mr. Black said in a husky voice right before he began to cough again, more vigorously than before as his body shook, in a way that made it uncomfortable for anyone to watch.
Seeing no need to stay any longer. As he coughed his lungs out, I turned around and simply left, knowing that no amount of "sorry" could magically cure whatever seemed to be wrong with "Mr. Black", having tried my best to ignore the fact that every time I saw him cough into his handkerchief, I saw blood coat whatever side he coughed into.
Stuffing the card deep in my pocket I made my way out of the speed train terminal, while trying to figure out how to break the bad news to my mother as I walked the rest of the way home.
I walked for a while, passing different people on the streets while using my hoodie to cover every part of my face and even going as far as to walk with my head slightly bent in a way that allowed me to only see the path, I took.
People also avoided me and peacefully went their way, but that was until a red light suddenly lit up the sky, far away from where I stood.
Bright enough for it to look like a second sun.
My first reaction was to shrug, depressed enough to not care about whether or not some people thought it wise to fight in the air around a residential area, as some heroes did.
But I had just continued walking only to abruptly come to a stop the moment I heard a man some steps away from me shout into the phone placed in his left ear.
"Lord Horati is battling a Villian close to our house?" The man yelled into the phone with a terrified expression on his face as he continued to speak into his phone.
"Get Bara and Hosai, and get out of sector 1, this minute. I'm in sector 3 on white street, I'll be home soon," the man said, cutting the call and dabbing the beads of sweat on his forehead with the long-sleeved arm of the suit he wore before he broke into a run.
"Mum," was the only word I could utter as I also began to run, fast enough to pass the short and heavily round man who unfortunately also lived in sector 1 on white street where I lived with my mum where huge flames and smoke were already rising to the sky.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone