Trouble With The Outlaws Issue 1: A Telepathic Warning
~San Francisco, Shopping District~
Cory struggled to not step on anyone's toes as he made his way down the crowded shopping center. It didn't bother him to much living in New York City most of his life. Cory moved to California a couple weeks ago from the fashion capital of the world, because of his mom's sudden death. His father decided that they needed a change, and as a semi famous music producer he could afford the sudden move. The fact that they moved to San Francisco made it pretty easy for Cory's father to still find work.
On Cory's first day at his new high school everything went exceptionally well, mainly because his cousin Shane White is very social, until a girl he met that day Jordan began slaughtering students with some strange form of magic. Cory managed to escape with the crowd, and on his way out he saw Wonder Girl fly into the school. Terrified, Cory found his friend David who was also new to the school that day, and conveyed to him how worried he was about Jordan, but David had no idea what he was talking about as well as the rest of the students. They thought an Earthquake caused the damage. When Cory explained the situation to his friend Titus, he indirectly read his mind and discovered that he was Wonderboy.
Being a telepath, Cory's been very active in the meta-human community. Not because he goes out searching for trouble, he just tends to get sucked into the problems of others, and there's quite a few people in the world who'd like to exploit the talents of a telepath. Although Cory chooses not to maintain a Superhero identity, he will use his powers to help those in need if he's able too, and he has on numerous occasions.
Cory chose today to splurge on himself. He's seen and been through a lot since his arrival to the meta-human infested city, and being in a giant crowded shopping center reminded him of his home that he missed so dearly. As Cory casually strolled down the block, he noticed a man dressed in all black shoving his way through the crowd. His physical build was remarkably huge. No one would dare speak out of line to this man unless they wanted a sure death sentence. As Cory tried to come up with a way to avoid the fast approaching giant, he decided to try to walk around the man entirely, but once he tried he got shoved into the man by a shopper rushing to exit a nearby store. The man indirectly knocked Cory down, causing him to drop his bags. Normally Cory would have been furious that a stranger knocked him down and didn't even have the courtesy to apologize for it, but when he made contact with the giant, he got a glimmer of what was going through his head. Cory could see the image of a relatively young man with jet black hair, being repeatedly gutted by the man that bumped into him.
Cory's read enough minds throughout his life to know the difference between a memory and a fabricated thought, and although this was a fabricated thought, the fact that it was so diligently on the that mans mind didn't sit well with him. After Cory quickly gathered his scattered belongings, he decided to tune into the mans thoughts.
'I sw ear Jaso n,whe n I getm y han dson yo u, I'm gonn a ta ke my tim e shred din gyou a part ! Hidi ng inthe mid dle ofa crow d won't hel p you. Wit h my n ew power s, I'll find yo u in n otim e!
Cory had a feeling that man was up to trouble, but he didn't think he'd be willing to kill someone in the public eye. From a safe distance Cory began to follow the man as he searched for his victim. Apparently this man had some way to track Jason which ultimately meant he'd find his target, unless Cory found him first. Cory once again tuned into the man's thoughts.
'I fe el it no w. You r n ot t o far J ason, I'vedo ne a h ell of a lot tofi nd you, a nd you w ill pay for sen ding meto my ow n death !'
The man suddenly stopped marching down the block, and began intently scanning the crowd of people in the vicinity. Cory assumed this meant Jason must have been somewhere in the immediate area.
As a kid Cory had difficulty controlling his telepathy and often found it challenging to keep everyone else's thoughts out of his head. Growing up he eventually taught himself how to set up mental barriers that filtered out the constant overflow of thoughts. When Cory removes these mental walls, the thoughts of everyone around him begin to crowd his mind which can be quite frustrating. The barriers are not perfect and do crack and break on their own after a while. Overtime he has developed the ability to break down the barriers himself when he wants to focus in on a specific persons thoughts. The more thoughts Cory want's to search through, determines how much he must break down the barriers.
Cory took a deep breathe and attempted to quiet his mind, despite the noise being caused by the people around him. As Cory slowly broke down the mental barriers he set up, the thoughts began to flood into his mind.
' I ca n't wai t to w at ch th e new Bea vis an d But the ad prem iere tonight!'
'Mo m betterb e he re in the nex t five min utes or I'm go nna...'
'I knew Jenna was che ating on him, it wa s so ob viou s'
'He be tter ca llm e bac k.'
'I thought Gree n Lan terns were all green n ot purpl e.'
'Wh ydoesn 't an yon ebel ieve Ista rted th e tea bag tren d in Halo?'
As the thoughts rushing in Cory heard someone speaking about a Jason, and refocused his energy on that thought.
'Tha t's th e four th ti me tod ay Firestar's tri ed to stic k his ha nd down my pant s. If Jason o r Gau ge don't get this Tamara nian fag got a way fro m m e, I'm gon na snap his arm o ff!'
When the word Jason was thought, Cory saw an image of the same man he saw earlier immediately confirming that he had found the man he was trying to save. Cory looked the the direction the thought came from, and saw Jason walking with three other abnormally fit men. As soon as Cory realized he found Jason the man after him was already plowing his way through people to get to him.
(Cory) Jason! Watch out!
Jason was unable to hear Cory's warning over the noise created by the large crowd. Instantly Cory dropped his bags and began dashing after Jason. The man after him was enormous compared to the average person which made it more difficult for him to move, Cory however was thin enough to easily weave his way through the crowd and with that advantage he made it just in time to tackle Jason away from the mans attack. The man attacking Jason's swing nearly hit Cory but shattered the pavement under instead. Cory and Jason rolled for a few feet before they came to a stop. Jason did a back-handspring and land on his feet, but Cory just clumsily flailed onto his back.
(Jason) Austin? Hmph, I thought you were dead.
(Austin) You never were very good at your job Jason!
Austin began to charge after Jason, tearing up the pavement behind him with his monstrous strength.
(Jason) Well, that's a new trick. Firestar I could use a little help over here!
The thinnest boy with an orange ting in his skin with Jason's group eyes began to glow a bright purple color. The same purple light formed a fiery orb around both his hands, and then he shot the energy at Austin. The tiny bolts generated an immense blast that sent Austin flying. Firestar's body began to radiate with a purplish pink aura, which soon disintegrated his civilian clothes and revealed his skimpy Tamaranian outfit. Firestar then took off after Austin with blazing purple eyes.
Jason went up to Cory and yanked him onto his feet with a grimace.
(Jason) Who the hell are you, and how do you know me? Are you working with Austin?
(Cory) No, no I swear. I was just trying to help you.
(Jason) You only answered one of my questions.
Jason's other two companions soon joined him. The muscular boy with long straight black hair was the first to speak.
(Man With Long Hair) It never ceases to amaze me, that the smallest guy in our group is the most powerful, by far.
(Man With Short Orange Hair) Pshh, whatever that dudes a bitch compared to half the heroes our age.
(Man With Long Hair) He'd kick your ass.
(Man With Short Orange Hair) Screw you, Gauge! Who's this guy?
(Cory) My names Cory.
(Jason) You still haven't told me how you knew my identity.
Jason pulled out a gun tucked inside his pants and and cocked the barrel before aiming it at Cory's head. Cory's jaw dropped as he became paralyzed with fear.
(Jason) Talk!
(Cory) I'm a telepath. I heard that man's thoughts when he was on his way after you.
Cory was beginning to regret coming to save this stranger. He didn't quite understand how someone could hold a gun to the person that just saved their life.
(Gauge) I think Firestar's put that guy down for the count.
The group looked in the direction Gauge was pointing in time to see Austin crashing into the ground. His body was decorated by numerous burns. Firestar gracefully levitated above Austins smoking body, with blazing purple eyes.
(Firestar) I do believe our new friend here won't be harming you, Jason.
AUTHOR NOTES: Cory is a character that appears in Wonderboy, The Self Proclaimed Progeny. I will add more to this later.