Chapter 2: Double Trouble…
Chapter 2: Double Trouble…
Perplexed, Jin, heart throbbing against his chest, sat down on his wheelchair as people on the same pavement as him walked by.
“Loki’s Successor System?”
He had put back on his shattered glasses again despite not being able to see much with it on.
The translucent object before him hovered, and followed his face wherever it might turn. It resembled a User Interface in that it was much like a screen you would find when playing a video-game.
Using his head, Jin looked around in search of a hologram projector. Because he had already told himself that there was no way the screen wasn’t being projected by something.
He searched, but to no avail. He couldn’t find any projector, or any other device that was projecting the screen. Nothing. Irritated, he grimaced, contorting his face a bit. This is impossible.
“How do I make this thing go away?”
“I’ve had a long day of school, and I think it’s about time this day stops getting crazier.”
Upon thinking about removing the screen from his field of view, it suddenly disappeared.
“Just like that?”
He made up his mind to investigate the screen further once he got home, because the fact that outdoors was no safe place, had been drenched deep down into his reasoning since he was little.
He started rolling the wheels of his wheelchair with his hands. He was about to cross the road when suddenly a meager figure stood in his way.
The figure wore a black hood that covered most of its head. Its skin was dark green, and its features were partially deformed.
Upon seeing its face, Jin remembered exactly who it was. It was the Goblin kid who had tried robbing the grocery a few minutes back.
“Uhh…kid?” Asked Jin, raising a brow, “You’re kinda blocking the way.”
“I’m sorry. Thank you for paying for my groceries and all, but I need your help again.”
“With what?”
“It’s my mother,” it sorrowfully dropped its head, “She’s dying…I need your help…”
“Uhm, I don’t think there’s much I can do given that I’m crippled,” he sighed, “But I suppose I can at least do something. Where is she?”
“Follow me…”
Jin started pursuing the Goblin’s path. In doing so, he noticed that the sky was still dark, and grim. There were no clouds in the sky. The wind seemed to be blowing perpetually, and it was rather cold.
Taking this into account, Jin just wanted to go home.
***
Jin was still following the Goblin boy. They were amidst the more rural area of the streets. The boy had been walking with a rather sluggish gait, and this bothered Jin excessively.
If his mother was on the verge of death, why was he walking so slowly?
“Hey, kid? Don’t you think we should hurry up? I mean, she’s dying … isn’t she?”
Haltingly, the Goblin ambled. It slowly stopped, with its back still turned on him. It didn’t move a muscle. It became silent for a brief moment. Quietude.
“We’re here…” it uttered, looking over its shoulder.
When suddenly, Jin started hearing loud clattering footsteps getting louder.
Quickly he traced the sound, but before he could turn to face what was approaching him, he was knocked down.
Both he and the wheelchair collapsed. He had fallen face-first. His glasses were even more broken. He was on the ground clenching his draw, and trying to get back up, as blood trickled down from his nose.
When suddenly, a huge hand rammed his head back down against the filthy ground.
The unbeknown figure behind him yanked his dominant hand. Though, what was apparent to him was the fact that it pulled on his arm to merely get a look at the amount of E-Coins he had in his possession. No rocket science here.
“What the fuck, Greg!?”
“What?”
“I thought you said he had one thousand, one hundred and twenty-three EC!?”
“Yeah, I did,” said the small goblin boy, “What are you seeing on his display?”
“Only one hundred and twenty-three. You little asshole! You’ve seen the wrong thing!”
At this point, Jin was convinced that he, like a deer, had fallen into a wretched trap set up by a hunter.
The figure, who had been knocked down, turned him over, and he was able to see its face.
Looking at its face, Jin wasn’t surprised to see that the figure was a Hobgoblin; this alone explained its remarkable physical strength.
“You! Pretty boi. Transfer your coins to me—now.”
The Hobgoblin bent over, and put out its hand for a handshake. Jin quickly used his Wristband, and punched in the number, ‘123’. Then he held the Hobgoblin’s massive calloused hand.
Jin’s hand looked like a baby’s in comparison to the Hobgoblin’s. After shaking the creature’s hand, Jin’s watch showed ‘Transfer Successful’, and his E-Coins were down to zero.
“You’re a smart kid, human. I’ll give you that much. Usually, humans are reluctant when it comes to giving up their cash.”
Before the Hobgoblin could stand, a man in a police uniform shouted, “Hey! You three! Is that blood I’m seeing!?”
“Fuck…” blurted the Hobgoblin, standing up.
“Greg, let’s get the fuck out of here. There’s no telling if the cop has an ability or not…”
The two creatures scurried away, leaving Jin there on the floor.
Jin was bleeding. He was trying to stand and get back on his wheelchair again.
When suddenly, the officer yelled, “Stop moving! Don’t move a muscle!”
On one of his knees, he turned his head to face the officer. He had brown hair, a full well-groomed beard, and black shades on his face. He was a human, and so, Jin sighed in relief.
Jin surmised that had it been any other race, he would have gotten into a predicament. That is to say, people were racist in this world, and would put his or her race above all others.
The officer ambled up to him, saying, “Fighting. You’re under arrest for fighting another race.”
Confused, Jin grimaced at the man. He couldn’t help but ask, “What?”
The cop started taking out handcuffs, “Don’t what me, boy…I said you’re under arrest for doing harm to another race.”
Jin retorted, “But officer, I didn’t lay a single finger on them! They robbed me! I didn’t do—”
“Stop talking bullshit!” the officer blurted, truncating Jin’s words.
The cop stepped back a bit, and quickly pulled out a black baton. He furrowed his brows, and gritted his teeth aggressively.
Suddenly, the baton combusted into luminous, loud sputtering bright, burning flames of wrath.
“An ability…” Jin uttered in fear. His heart sank.
“Kid, if you don’t want to be toast…listen to me…”
On both knees, Jin put out his dominant arm, “Okay, I’ll listen. But can you please hear me out a bit? Take a look at my Wristband, I wasn’t fighting—I’ve been the one robbed. You see?”
As soon as Jin put out his hand, the cop flinched. Then he started scowling at him. He quickly launched his boot into Jin’s abdomen. From the pain, Jin doubled over as he groaned aloud.
His head then fell to the ground, as he wailed in the agony.
The cop placed a knee behind Jin’s neck, and exerted a significant amount of force. He pulled up Jin’s shirt; exposing his bare back, and slowly carried the flaming baton closer to his body.
“Officer! Please don’t! Please!”
“This is unnecessary”
“Please, officer!”
Disdaining Jin’s begging, the cop, gritting his teeth, cruelly placed the burning baton upon Jin’s skin.
The flames ate away some of Jin’s flesh, causing him to scream to the top of his lungs as his body spasmed uncontrollably.
When unexpectedly, he started to hear speaking that sounded more so over a phone or a walkie talkie.
After hearing, “Urgent need of officers at -7, 49, 088”, the officer paused, pulling the baton away from Jin, and standing again.
He spoke into coms, “Copy that. Officer Clarke—on it.”
The hissing flames of his incinerated baton seemed to extinguish itself.
He looked down at Jin, “You’re lucky this time. Stay right here, and don’t move, you hear me? I’ll be back.”
With that said, the officer suddenly hurried away, leaving Jin right there.
What stood clear to Jin was that something more urgent came up, and the officer volunteered to be on duty in order to use his fire ability on a more serious case.
It was either he was doing it for justice, to exercise his ability or to get more points in order to reach a higher rank in his profession.
Jin immediately struggled his way back up to his feet again. He quickly bent over, and picked up his wheelchair. And then, he sat on the wheelchair and started rolling away.
Why would he stay there for someone to come back and use an ability on him?
Who would stay there?
Not Jin by any means.
In short, he freshened himself up, and went home in a hurry. He rolled upon the pavements, crossed the busy roads, and went to his medium-sized house.
After reaching the front door, he heaved in relief. He revolved the door knob with a hand, and pulled the door open.
The first thing he saw was his Grandmother, sitting on a chair. He could tell that she was worried.
“Jin, oh thank God you’re home. I was starting to get worried sick…”
She stood, and started approaching him.
He plastered a smile on his face. “You were?”
“Yeah, of course I was worried. It’s going to be five pm soon. You’ve been out all day—not something I see at all when it comes to my Grandson.”
Jin rubbed behind his neck. “You didn’t have to worry, you know what’s your condition. I was out with some friends.”
“What friends?”
“My friends.”
“Who? Ashton, Tristan and Dobby? Those boys?”
“Yeah. Those guys.”
“Ah okay. Since you’ve been out all day, you’re definitely hungry right now. Oh God, your food must’ve gotten cold by now,” she said, tapping her lips with a finger, “Let me go heat something up for—”
“Grandma!” interrupted Jin, “I’m fine. I’m just … tired, that’s all. I need to grab a couple of z’s,” he said, rolling his wheelchair towards his bedroom.
“What did you eat all day?”
He didn’t answer her.
He entered his room, and closed the door shut. As soon as he had made it inside, he took off his shirt, and threw it on the ground. With weary eyes, he stood up from the wheelchair, and plopped down on his bed.