They're not necessary, but the first one explains what the project was.
This story was written from a man from Iran, and I'm guessing that English was not his first language as you'll see below.
Paradox is a supervillain that can control dark matter. When he sent in this story, I was apprehensive at first with the liberties he took with the setting, but I really liked the ideas he had for the character's powers.
The setting was meant to be less populated with supers, but it gave me an idea for Mr. Ecks and his secret lab.
I also realized that Paradox should be one of the later entries into the storyline, and along with the Mr. Ecks's Lab, the need for a super assassin would be more relevant.
This first part is an excerpt from the writer's original, just to give you an example. The grammar was quite poor, but I edited it to show that I was willing to work with him.
Let me know if you'd like to see the full original piece.
It was a nice day outside, the kind of day that made want to go to a short walk outside. But I didn't have time for a walk today, shame.
So instead of walking outside I was sitting in my office with a client that sat there with discomfort, his underlings behind him.
"As I told you on our emails earlier it is definitely possible, but it will cost you a large sum." I tried looking into his eyes while speaking to him but he evaded my gaze.
"Around one point seven million." I continued.
He glanced into my eyes for a short second then looked at his palms.
"What if you fail?" He asked me.
"It will be so that if I do not succeed you will get a full refund minus the arrangement price." I answered and saw he was somewhat relieved to hear it, he didn't believe I might be successful in the job.
After he and his underlings left I pulled my phone out and checked the location in question, a small building with a park across the road from it.
Was this job possible? yes, easy? No.
I got up from my chain and looked outside the window, what a nice day.
As the elevator went down to ground level no one else but me was in it so I let my thoughts run.
For the game we were playing there were rules, unspoken ones, ones that when you brake the whole game board come crashing down, so if I am going to break such rule I better be ready.
I exited the elevator at ground level and instead of going outside to my parking car I kept walking into the building until I stopped against a red locked door.
My keys fit perfectly into the lock and it clicked open.
As I descent the stairs downward my phone rang.
Transfer complete, I had the money.
The room at the end of the stairs was nothing special, if someone somehow find his way down here he might think its a garage where we keep some unused tech for the company.
And there it is, under a shelf a big tool box sat, my equipment.
As I opened the tool box I felt that tingling excitement, almost euphoric.
The gauntlets were matt black, made out of a special alloy, their design was similar to the ones you might see in video games. big, bigger than my hands by two times at least, with claws at the end of each finger tip.
I put the gauntlets on, they covered my hand and forearm with clicks sounds as the mechanism suit itself to me.
I tried moving my fingers and the black claws moved with them, perfect.
I don't know what inspired me, but I decided to ghostwrite it, and this is what I wrote:
Present day
It was a nice day outside. The kind of day that makes you want to take a walk. I didn’t have time for a walk today; such a shame. Instead, I was sitting in my office. Across from me, my latest client sitting in obvious discomfort to my presence. His underlings stood dutifully behind him, despite the fact that I knew they were in fear of me as well. He must pay a lot for that kind of loyalty.
“As I told you in our emails, moving the date up is possible, but it will require a larger sum of money.” I tried looking into his eyes while speaking to him, but he evaded my gaze. “I’m thinking 1.7 million.” I continued.
He met my gaze for a brief moment, then looked down at his hands. “What if you fail?” He asked me.
I suppressed a strong laughter by clearing my throat. “I believe my track record speaks for itself, your money will not go to waste. If I should not succeed, however, I suppose you’re entitled to a refund, minus what you paid to arrange this meeting.” He seemed to be satisfied with those terms, but I could tell he still had his doubts as to my abilities; how insulting. After they left, I ruminated about his doubts. Was he not aware of my powers? The powers that allow me to be the best at my job.
About one year ago
I was at my desk working on one of the accelerators, adjusting its power settings in hopes to make it more efficient when Emma pinged me. I pressed the intercom button and asked her, “What?”
“I’m getting some weird readings here. Is Viktor with you? I want you both to come look at this.”
“Yea, sure. I’ll go get him. Where are you right now?”
“Delta point, right beside the specimen.”
“K, see you in a bit.” I put down the accelerator and began my search for Viktor. As expected, he was at his desk, eating a sandwich and checking his phone. I knocked on the open door to let him know I was there.
It took him a moment to look up at me, his glasses sliding down his nose a bit as he did so. “Mo, what do you need?” He asked me in his heavy Ukrainian accent.
I hated being called Mo, and Viktor knew that, but I held my ire, “Emma said she’s getting some weird readings down at Delta and she wants us to come have a look.”
He nodded his head and wrapped his sandwich back up, then we headed her way. As we walked down the stairs to where the specimen was being contained in Delta, she was there waiting, looking at her tablet. Her long, black hair was in a ponytail that was sticking up as she looked down at the tablet in her hands.
“Okay, what’re these weird readings you mentioned?” I asked as we got close to her.
“Look at this.” She held the tablet up for us to see, and it was full of statistics from the chamber that holds the specimen, a strange container made of an unknown metal that was found in the desert a few weeks prior.
I grabbed the tablet from her and looked for anything that would qualify as weird. Power input and output looked okay, same for the other stats for the machine. Everything looked nominal until I got to the mass of the specimen.
“Okay, that is weird.” I said as I furrowed my brow and tapped that statistic to see more details about it. The graph was showing a sudden drop in mass three times along its otherwise steady line. “Is there a leak?” I asked, handing the tablet to Viktor while trying to look in the chamber at the specimen. It had been found damaged the way it is, but until now has shown no signs of its integrity being compromised.
“If it’s a leak, then that means it corrected itself three times. Otherwise, there would be less each time it occurred.”
I looked to Viktor, “Bring up the timestamp for each anomaly.” He tapped the tablet a few times then handed it to me. “Let’s see, 12:47, 15:32, 18:56. Each one occurred yesterday.”
“I was running diagnostics at Epsilon point yesterday.” Viktor pleaded. Which probably meant he spent most of that time in Gamma chatting up the new lab assistant.
“Oh fuck.” I said as I remembered what I did yesterday.
“What?” Emma asked.
“Those must be the times that I put in accelerators that I had enhanced. They were working so well, I took out another five to work on today.”
“There’s no reason the accelerators would cause an anomaly such as this, unless you somehow disturbed the sensors.” Viktor interjected.
“It’s highly unlikely I did that three times in a row. Besides, I was monitoring it at Beta after I installed each one.”
“Have you enhanced any other accelerators, Mohammed?” I nodded my head. “Good, we’ll have to recalibrate the sensors first. Then, Viktor, you go to Alpha and get the chamber ready to open, I’ll go to Beta to monitor things. Mohammed, go get an accelerator and get it ready to be installed.” Emma commanded.
I had grabbed the accelerator and the tools I would need. I had donned the hazmat suit as it is standard operating procedure when opening up the chamber holding the specimen. As I stood at Delta point, I looked at the specimen. I was mesmerized by it. This strange, coffin-sized box came from space, withstood entering our atmosphere, and shows hardly any signs of damage from that nor the impact. It was unclear as to how to open it, and this strange metal was not allowing us to see inside, thus why we were studying it. We had theories on how much this container should weigh when it’s empty, which was far less than how much our sensors were telling us it actually weighs. Whatever is inside must be the densest material in the universe, and we all had our theories about that as well.
I looked up at Alpha and could see Viktor checking his phone. I looked over at Beta, and Emma was studiously checking over the sensors. I watched her for a moment. Her ponytail bobbed around as she looked at the different monitors back and forth. I’ve always admired her passion for her work. Suddenly, the intercom began blasting the chorus to “Gorilla” by Bruno Mars.
“You and me, Baby, making love like gorillas!” Viktor sang along.
Emma and I both yelled through our earpieces, “That’s not funny, Viktor!” He was well-known for these types of shenanigans.
“He was staring at you like wolf from cartoons, I couldn’t help it.” He begged as he shut off the music.
If Emma had lasers in her eyes, Viktor would be dead now. I didn’t have to be right next to her to know that she shot him that look, like her little brother had embarrassed her for the last time type look.
She turned her head to look down at me, “Mohammed, are you ready?”
I held up the accelerator and gave her a thumbs up as I replied, “Ready.”
“Viktor?” she asked annoyedly.
I watched him wheel his chair over to the main station and push his heavy glasses back up his nose. “Entry Sequence, on my mark.”
I gave Viktor a thumbs up.
“Okay, three, two, one, mark.”
It was then I heard the familiar hiss. The locks on the door were beginning to open and the chamber began to depressurize. This part always made me the most nervous. Not only because we were changing the pressure around the specimen, but the dissipating atmosphere obstructed my view of Emma. Despite this, I walked in as soon as the door cleared its frame. The venting atmosphere had fully dissipated and I looked up at Emma, “Which one should I change?” I could see her looking over the monitors before she answered.
“Looks like the accelerator in B-2 is showing the least amount of efficiency.” Her response was slightly distorted, as was customary anytime someone was inside the chamber.
I turned to the southeast corner by the door and set the accelerator and toolbox on the floor. As I kneeled to open the toolbox, I heard a metallic creaking noise. I tried to whip my head to look at the specimen, but the hazmat hood had to be moved so I could see it. Nothing was apparently wrong with it. “Emma, you getting any anomalous readings?” I asked as I continued to get the tools I would need.
There was a brief pause, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention, “Everything seems nominal,” her distorted voice stated, making me jump out of my skin. “Everything okay on your end, Mohammed?”
I wasn’t normally this nervous, and I wasn’t about to show it, “A-okay.” I responded as I began to remove the panel covering the components in B-2. I did this three times yesterday without any trouble, but even the sounds of the hazmat suit, ventilating and filtering my air supply, the crinkly noises the material makes as you move around, all seemed to add to my anxiety.
I had no trouble removing the panel, but as I looked at where I knew the accelerator goes, my vision went blurry for a moment, and I suddenly felt very light-headed and woozy. It passed as quickly as it had arrived, and I shook my head before attempting to remove the accelerator. I struggled to pull it out of its place, which was odd. The face shield on the suit began to fog up, and I felt like my breathing was being suppressed, akin to that feeling when you’re in the deep end of the pool.
“There it is! It’s still dipping. Moha--”
Her voice had cut out. By now I was on the floor, sitting against the chamber wall. I had removed the suit’s helmet to breathe better, but it didn’t matter.
Three weeks ago
“So you say you can do it.” Emma said as her eyes looked to the other side of the bar we had gone to to hang out after work.
“Just because we work in an underground secret lab, you have a hard time believing I can pick up a girl in a bar?” I retorted.
She laughed at that rhetorical question, “Viktor and I both know you suck at it….me on the other hand…”, she said as she glanced at the blonde that had started this conversation.
“We do a coin flip then.”
She turned and gave me a wry smirk, “Fine,” she agreed.
I took out a coin from my pocket, “Your call,” I said before I flipped it into the air.
“Tails.” She called.
I caught it and revealed what it was. Sure enough, it was tails.
“Ha ha, my turn,” was all she said as she pranced out of her seat, cheeks fully flushed from the Adios, Motherfuckers she had been drinking.
As she approached the blonde, two men had sat at the bar nearer to where we sat blocking my view of her and the girl. I took a sip of my beer and checked my phone for messages. Emma soon returned with a smile on her face.
“Apparently, she’s straight,” she stated as she took a long sip of her drink.
I watched as the blonde stormed out of the bar and slumped back into my chair, “I hate you, why do I even hang out with you?” I asked, pissed that I wouldn’t get a chance.
“Because, I’m cooler than Viktor, and he doesn’t want to listen to you whine about how lonely you are.” She giggled elbowing me in a playful manner.
I sighed. She was right. “Well, it’s getting late, and we have work in the morning. I’m heading home. Do you need a ride?” I asked as I stood up to get my wallet out.
She scoffed, “You’re such a sore loser,” she complained. She finished her drink then grabbed my arm. “Yea, you better buy me a taxi.”
“I may not be much fun, but you are too much fun, and at work you’re like, so straight-laced. How do you do that?” I questioned as I helped her with her jacket.
She turned to me and had pulled her hair up holding it with one hand, the other engaged in somatics, “It’s all about how you present yourself,” she started, letting her hair fall back down around her neck. We began making our way out before she continued, “I’m a lesbian working in a lab full of mostly straight, white men. I can’t flinch an inch in there. I get hit on enough as it is!” She had to yell this as we passed by a speaker blaring music. This caused the men nearby to turn their heads and stare. We both giggled as we sped up our exit.
I held the door for her as she ran out to the curb looking both ways for taxis. I couldn’t help but stare at her in her tight dress. “So, what about me?”
“You’re here because your brain is like… space internet.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?” I laughed.
She turned back to me, “You know, world wide web, but you’re more like space wide web. Like everything, everything in that crazy brain of yours.”
I smiled as I watched her turn to look for a taxi again. I found it difficult to hide the attraction I have for her. Her compliment gave more credence to the theory that she liked me in that way despite how adamant she is about being a lesbian. I felt like we had some kind of connection that seemed to transcend that. I had to stop from running into her as I didn’t realize how close I had gotten. “And what about Viktor?”
“What about Viktor?” she asked, almost laughing it off as her search continued.
“I just realized our team is the perfect starting line for a joke, a lesbian, a Muslim, and a Ukranian scientist walk into a bar…”
She turned back to me, startled by how close I was, “That’s a shitty joke.” she grimaced, but I saw the smirk on her face as she turned away. I turned her head back towards me and kissed her. She didn’t seem to resist, but her kiss wasn’t very passionate either. We didn’t really say much else as we shared a cab home. I’m pretty sure I broke a layer of ice she wasn’t expecting to have been broken. At least from me.
Back to one year ago
The radio cutting out provided a silence I was not expecting. As though I couldn’t even hear the hum of the machines. My vision flashed in and out of being blurry, but I watched as a dark, thick substance oozed like molasses from the specimen. As it pooled, it didn’t splash and the puddle grew in a perfect circle. I was right. It was full of dark matter. My breathing became even more labored as it felt like my breath was being sucked out of me. I looked up at Beta and could see Emma pounding on the window, screaming. I smiled at her as I gave Viktor the thumbs up. It felt like there was a hundred-pound weight attached to my arm. It wasn’t long before I heard the familiar hiss, as Viktor had re-engaged the chamber door. It felt like my soul was being pulled out of my body. My vision soon faded, as did my consciousness.
I drew a deep breath. How am I still alive? And why do I feel like I weigh a million tons? The feeling subsided and I felt like I could stand. I didn’t immediately recognize where I was, but I soon remembered. I checked myself. Other than the fact that my clothes and hair were missing, there seemed to be nothing wrong with me. I could see blood on the floor around me. Is that my blood? I looked up at Alpha, and it was no longer there. All I could see was dirt, rock, and crumpled pieces of bulkhead. I whipped my head towards Beta. It was still there, although it was pretty damaged. The stairs leading up to it were still intact. I took a step forward only to see a bit of dark matter roll along the floor like I had kicked it. What th--? I didn’t get to finish my thought before it exploded, cracking the heavy cement below it. I found it odd that there was no sound, no fire, no smoke, yet its destructive capabilities was very apparent. Did that just spill out of me? I couldn’t let myself get distracted. I had to see if Emma was still alive.
I stopped when I reached the stairs. I watched as a small dark matter gas bubble popped out of my chest. It floated over the stairs and soon exploded. I shielded myself from the blast by instinct, but I hardly felt it. It had made a depression in the already heavily cracked stairs. The dark matter seemed to eviscerate any matter that came into contact with its blast radius. Except for me, that is. I began walking up the stairs and they were creaking underneath me. Cement stairs aren’t supposed to creak. My mind wanted to run the equations to calculate how that was possible, how any of this was possible, but I kept my focus on finding Emma. As I neared the door, bubbles spilled out of my hand as I reached out to open it. They annihilated it enough for me to get through. The room was in disarray. High tensile glass and blood on the floor. It shook me to know that it was her blood. The trail led to the escape hatch and I ran to it. As I looked down I could see her two floors down, lying prone with a generous pool of blood around her. I could also see a large piece of the protective glass protruding from her abdomen. What the fuck is going on? Why am I alive and she’s not?
The tears welled fast and began to fall towards her. I quickly realized it was dark matter and began trying to catch my tears. It was like a slow-motion nightmare watching the tears slip out of my hands. The harder I tried and failed, the more I cried. I watched her body become obliterated, and the explosions were cascading upwards, this time with enough force to throw me backwards. I laid there for a moment, continuing to cry as an uncontrollable laughter joined in the mix. If there were an antonym to King Midas, it would be me. It’s too bad Prince of Darkness is taken. This only increased my laughter. I think my brain had become broken trying to rationalize the most improbable of improbabilities. That, somehow, I had become infused with the dark matter that was once inside that mysterious coffin from space. To top it all off, it leaks out of me in different states, causing irreparable damage. Right, and I’m hairless and naked. W-T-F!? Suddenly, my favorite Green Day song came to mind, “Walking Contradiction”. That’s it!
Paradox.
Back to Present Day
I got up from my chair and looked out the window made of privacy glass. It really was a nice day. Much like a year ago today. It had taken me nearly half a day to get out of that crumbling lab, which luckily meant it was night time when I got out. Despite that, my nightmare continued as I destroyed everything in my path, including my apartment. Still naked, and now I was homeless. One of the last times fear and dread would consume me. I had found an abandoned building in a sketchy part of town where I had planned to lay low. I soon discovered I no longer suffered from hunger nor the need to evacuate waste, but I was still exhausted. It had only been a few days before Mr. Ecks had found me, still sleeping. Him and his psionic lackey kidnapped me and trapped me, only to eventually provide me with the means to control my new found powers. Dr. R. Ecks and I worked on a complex suit of armor mixed with experimental technologies while his mysterious friend held me in a telekinetic bubble. The metal was an alloy infused with the dark matter that could also absorb what still spills out of me. To top it off, were a pair of large gauntlets with long claws that allow me to control the dark matter that the armor holds in store. My telekinetic bond to the dark matter allows me to wear the armor that weighs a literal ton.
Months later, Mr. Ecks had developed some outfits I can wear to blend in otherwise. They don’t allow me to control the dark matter, but they absorb a small amount of it nonetheless. Even still, I have to be careful, often needing to wear a hood. It was then Mr. Ecks had made it clear as to how I was to repay him, handing me a list of names. I was to ‘erase’ these people from existence. I have to admit I was sloppy at first, but I quickly refined my methods, learning better control over the dark matter. It got to the point to where I could just make my target disappear with no trace of their body, nor a trace that I was there. My phone buzzed in my pocket. The first half of the money had been delivered. Time to get my uniform. The only uniform I would ever wear again.
With the help of some funding from Mr. Ecks, we built a special penthouse suite on top of a high-rise apartment building, and, of course, a secret underground lair below it. A place where I could practice my powers, and a lab for inventing things, although I had definitely been more fascinated with honing my skills when it comes to controlling and manipulating dark matter. The only thing I had used the lab for was to rig my phone to be used with gestures so my gauntlets wouldn’t have to scratch the screen up anymore.
As the elevator descended, I allowed my thoughts to run. This was a delicate game I played. One with unspoken rules, that if broken, could bring the whole game board crashing down; gg. With the likes of Cy-Man and the others running amok, I’d better be ready if I were to break a rule. I knew I had more to learn about my powers, and I had no clue as to how they would stack up against the likes of them. I had yet to be tested.
The elevator reached sub-level 5. Behind that button is a lock. I popped the button open. My key fit perfectly into the lock and it clicked. The doors closed, and the elevator began to descend once more, down to sub-level X. Mr. Ecks had demanded we use ‘X’ instead of ‘10’; such a trivial thing. As the doors opened again, there was a small hallway to a black door that has no knob. In fact, if anyone were to be able to reach this point, they would never be able to open this door. It is made of the same alloy as my armor, as are all the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room inside. Only my telekinetic bond to the dark matter can move this five ton door that has no hinges.
Gently placing the door back into place, I turned to see the armor in the display case. As I opened it, I felt a tingling excitement, almost euphoric. The entire suit is jet black, made of a special alloy composed of carbyne, aerographite, and carbon fiber nanotubes. The gauntlets, however, are the epitome of the set, being the remote control of my power. They were easily twice the size of my hands, with long, razor-sharp claws. The suit of armor was designed in such a way that I can don it telekinetically. The gauntlets fit on last, and as I put them on, they covered my hands and forearms with clicking and sliding sounds as the mechanisms suited the gauntlets to me. I moved my fingers and the claws moved in unison; perfect. Now, to go over the plan and rehearse. After all, I never do my job in the daytime.
I had waited until it was the witching hour. Other than hanging out at a bar occasionally, I had never been the night-owl type. Now, I relied on this time of night; like a vampire without an insatiable hunger for blood. I had an insatiable hunger for power of the non-super kind. To leave, I had but to conjure the shroud of gaseous dark matter I use to hide and fly, and go up the shaft that leads to a sewer manhole in a dead-end alley. As I floated up above the buildings, I could see the park across from the target location and headed my way there.
This was Sherwood Villa, a very rich neighborhood on the south side of town. Doing this job for the past six months had forced me to learn this city better than any taxi driver. I landed myself in the front lawn of the three-story mansion. It was quite luxurious, probably the most expensive on the block; how many fucking rooms does this have? However annoying, I had grown accustomed to this as the majority of my victims had been high-priced targets. If there were dogs, they were unaware of my presence, and as I started towards the residence, I saw a guard patrolling. I quickly moved the shroud covering me towards him. No fire, no smoke, no sound, and he was gone; literally erased from existence. My preferred method as to removing obstacles.
It wasn't unusual for there to be guards, but what I did find unusual was the lack of other types of
security systems. Over the last six months I had become quite familiar with the higher-end security
systems available in this area and yet I saw no cameras. As I approached the door, from what I could
tell it was only a deadbolt keeping it locked. I opened my hand and placed my palm on the surface of
the door. My gauntlets had three modes, and for this one I knew which one I should use. A hissing
sound could be heard from my hands and, slowly, black, viscous lines spread from my palm across the
surface of the door. I moved my hand across the wall, letting my claws dig into it, then I closed my
hand into a fist, and like magic, the door was gone.
Not my typical strategy for entry, as most security systems require a more subtle touch. A siren was going off somewhere and was getting closer each second. Had someone already called the authorities? No bother. Soon my target would share the same fate as the guard and the door. My client did not afford me the name of my target, so the order was to kill everyone on the premises; simple enough. I cared not for the intrigue amongst kingpins and the like. I only care that they pay me handsomely for being their assassin. It's the reason they come to me. A stranger with grey enough morals to kill, an outsider with no connections they can chase me through, no family or friends they can talk to, no one in cages who can tell them about me or how I do my job.
I conjured another cloud of dark matter to float through the house, as most foundations cannot withstand my immense weight, let alone the armor. As I floated up the stairs, I glanced at the pictures along the wall, and I began to recognize some of the people in them. I wasn't sure how I knew these people, nor who they were. It had been a long time since my stomach lurched into my throat. I had grown accustomed to not knowing my victims personally. It could be dangerous if I knew this person. It could lead the officials onto my trail, and now was not a good time for that. Even after this job, I'd still only have a tenth of what I need. I wasn't ready to be outed yet. That was when I heard a strange whooshing sound. As I turned the corner of the second flight of stairs I nearly blasted the mirror on the wall. Yet it was only me in my full set of regalia. Dark blacks and greys with my logo on the front of the chestplate, the broken circle glowing bright purple from the power supply built into the armor.
Another sound, this time closer. I looked up the last part of the stairs and saw a man in his 40's, maybe a bit younger, in yellow and white pajamas. The design of the coloration brought back that sinking feeling I had begun to miss. I now knew why I recognized those people. This was BoltCore, and he was looking at me with a face distorted in anger. The woman in the pictures was his wife whom I had erased a month prior. She had been on a business trip; one of the few times I've traveled to do my job. BoltCore is a local superhero, known for rescuing people, but lately has gotten more into fighting criminals. Must be why he's on my client's hit-list. He's known for three superpowers. Super strength, super vision, and self teleportation within range of sight. He must recognize me as I had become known in the underground as The Ghost Knight. I pulled the trigger and flung my gaseous cloud towards him. The explosion of implosions tore its way through the floor and the edge of BoltCore's foot, just grazing him. He screamed in pain, then just disappeared from sight.
{Side Note: Boltcore was a creation of Dr. R. Ecks. Later, Mr. Ecks will visit Paradox to demand some kind of restitution for having killed him. The super strength and vision come from strategic cybernetic implants amongst his muscles. The teleportation is due to a mechanism implanted in the correct portion of his brain that stimulates and controls that particular psionic ability. BoltCore was still a work-in-progress, due to get other superpowers such as regeneration, and a select few other psionic abilities.}
It was quiet for a moment, and I took the opportunity to ready my favorite weapon; a whip of liquid dark matter. I'll have to aim better if I want to kill him in one go. I heard the whooshing sound once more and BoltCore appeared before me and I waved my right arm in a snapping movement, sending the whip in his direction. The crack of the whip sounding like a sonic boom from a jet. He teleported again, this time just to my right, swinging a kick at me. I quickly moved my left hand and shot out gaseous dark matter for his foot to travel through. He teleported again, right in front of me, the whip nearly catching him, but his super strength affords him super agility and he ducked just in time. "This is tiresome." I commented, while shooting another gaseous cloud towards him, as I pretended to yawn.
"This is tiresome?!? You piece of shit, garbage. You must be the one who killed my wife!!!" He teleported after shouting this and tried to hit me with a punch. I had seen this move coming and easily dodged it. Superheroes are nothing if not predictable, especially when in the throes of revenge.
I kept my whip swinging and shot gas at him once more which made him teleport behind me. I made the whip explode, but soon heard the teleportation sound and he appeared above me, falling right on top of me. I didn't have time to conjure dark matter, hence the claws and I pointed the tips towards him. He teleported again before falling into my claws, then kicked my back. I simply fell to my knees. I think it was from my expectancy of being broken in half, but to my astonishment, his super strength was no match for my immense weight. Neither was the floor, as I soon fell through it laughing my way down to the basement. I stood in the divot I had made and pretended to yawn once again, "Yes, tiresome."
"I will fucking kill you!" Was all I got in return.
It was obvious to me now that he did not realize the futility of his situation. We played a bit more of cat-and-mouse. I would shoot dark matter, he would teleport around, sometimes hitting me; not that it mattered. I got the feeling he was expecting me to run out of ammo. I don't smile often and so I didn't smile then, but a different person might have. As far as I can tell, I can't run out of ammo. I quickly grew tired of this little game and soon had him trapped in a hollow sphere of liquid dark matter. I parted enough of it to see his frightened face. This did bring a smirk to my lips as I closed my right hand into a tight fist and watched the dark matter eviscerate every molecule of his existence.
As I exited the house, there were at least a dozen witnesses all pointing their smartphones. The game board was crashing down, but now I knew I was ready to catch it.
Thank you so much for reading. Please consider leaving some feedback. Have a wonderful day....[[|:-)
Pieces of Eight, Part III is a collection of eight novellas to complement the eight in Pieces of Eight, Pieces of Eight, Part II and Pieces of Eight, Part IV.
Heaven sent us an angel. She could be your neighbor. Her friends call her Megan, but when her eyes are glowing, everyone calls her Ember Reign.
Megan Martin was an average teenager. She felt cheated when her grandfather died and grandmother
