Chapter 2: If... (1/4)
Left,right, left,right,dodge,jab,jab,strike.
"You want some more!" Nero yelled to the boy who he just punched several times.
Apparently, the boy did want some more since he stood up again, and tried to punch Nero. But Nero simply moved his head and evaded the punch before throwing a left jab into the boy's nose, then finishing him off with a right hook.
The right hook knocked the boy out cold.
Nero then turned to the boys that were watching the fight and approached them. "My Cash." He told them while extending their hand.
"Shit!" One of the boys complained.
Truth is, Nero made a bet that he could beat the biggest one of them for fifty dollars. He just won.
They handed him the money, which he gladly put it inside his pocket. "When you're friend wakes up, tell him to stop being a moron." Nero told them before turning around.
He walked towards the entrance of the alleyway that they were in. With his friend waiting for him.
"Was that really necessary?" The friend in question was Jean Grey. She was wearing blue jeans, black shoes and a red jacket.
"Now he will think twice before stealing money from little kids." Nero explained. "Wanna eat something?"
Jean nodded.
It's been several months since what happened to the Castles. It turns out, their case was dropped not long after Nero spoke with the police. Nero was very frustrated by that but there was nothing to be done. He also couldn't explain how he went back to the hospital that day. Was it telepotation? And if yes, how does it work? Nero kept on asking himself that question. He's still had absolutely no answer to the whole the-Grim-Reaper-is-his-mother business. Or what exactly was she talking about. He only know that it was real because of the lipstick on his forehead.
Nero's sudden disappearance and reappearance in the hospital caused a lot of confusion. With people wondering how he left and came back without anyone noticing. None of the doctors could explain how Nero survived the gunshots or how he healed so quickly. Although they kept him there for a time, they ultimately released him.
With FJ gone, Jean kind of became Nero's best friend since she didn't have any friends here and FJ was Nero's only friend. The two ended up spending a lot of time together as a result.
The two entered a small dinner that had a few people inside, four tables, a counter with a few chairs, and an old juke box. Nero and Jean sat on the table that was the furthest of the main door.
They checked the menu for a bit, until the waitress arrived. "What's it gonna be?"
"Can I get a burger and fries?" requested Nero.
"A sandwich and a milkshake," said Jean.
The waitress wrote their orders down and went to the kitchen. Both just sat there and waited for a bit.
But then Nero noticed something, Jean looked like there was someone bothering her. "What's bothering you?" he asked using telepathy.
Jean just looked at him with her green eyes before doing something.
"I'M DOING EVERYTHING TO KEEP THINGS FROM GETTING WORSE!"
"WORSE?! IT'S ALREADY WORSE! I KNOW SHE'S STILL TALKING TO HIM AND IT'S NOT JUST HER, JEAN IS ALSO ACTING STRANGE-"
Nero had to grab her hand to make her stop as he heard her parents yelling at one another like they were there. "When did it happened?" he asked.
"This morning," she replied.
"Is that why...you called me so early?" he asked. Jean had called him at nine a.m.
"I... When I was covering my ears to... not hear it, several things on my room started to float." Jean told him.
"Float? Like...flying?" He asked.
She nodded.
Nero was in deep thought after hearing this. Holy shit! Does that mean she has telekinesis too. He asked himself inside his mind.
"I can hear you." Jean spoke inside his head.
"Oh, right. I was just trying to understand." Nero replied. "I still don't know how I went back to the hospital." He spoke through telepathy.
Jean was about to say something to Nero but the waitress finally returned with their food and the two decided to just eat before continuing the conversation.
The two friends just finished their food and Nero decided to walk Jean home. The two walked down the street holding each other's hand and talking about the situation.
"I don't know how, I just wanted to get out of there to not get you in trouble and before I knew, I was there," Nero explained. "But no matter how much I try, I just can't do it again."
"There must be something missing, which is why it doesn't work." Jean suggested.
"But what could it be?"
"I don't know."
Nero and Jean just kept on walking while they were both thinking in conjunction. But neither could come up with a theory about it. It didn't took long for the two to arrive at Jean's home.
"I'll think about it and try to come up with something." Jean responded to him telepathically.
"Nah, you don't have to worry about that." Nero was quick to dismiss.
"I want to, I mean, what if you accidentally uses it again and it teleports you to a war zone or a volcano?" Jean suggested the possibility.
After hearing that, Nero instantly made a worried expression and started to conjure several disturbing images about the possibilities.
"Jesus! Those are worse than the ones I imagined." Jean thought in horror and she also saw the possibilities in Nero's head.
"If you think of something, please call me." Nero decided to accept her help. "I'm going back to the orphanage now, see you tomorrow?" Nero asked.
"Sure," Jean told him. "Wanna see a movie with me?"
"Sure," Nero replied before hugging her. "See ya." He waved as he turned around and left.
But Nero didn't really go back to the orphanage. He actually made his way to the apartment where his parents left him and decided to stay on the rooftop for a while.
Where did the time go?
Running scared for so many years
And now I'm here
I look round but I don't see anyone
Everything I love has come and gone
I walk alone with a loaded gun
What went wrong?
There's two sides to every story
The defeat or the pain of the glory
Nero listed to a song on the radio that he had hidden there as he practiced shadow boxing.
It all burns away
(Gone, gone)
But how did it go so wrong?
Now it's all gone
(The pain of remembering)
Where did my life go?
I look in the mirror but what I see
It ain't me
These streets are paved with fantasies
Of what the other half can be
But now it's flying in the breeze.
He threw combo after combo after combo as the lyrics passed through his ears.
There's two sides to every story
The defeat or the pain of the glory
It all burns away
(Gone, gone)
But how did it go so wrong?
Now it's all gone
(The pain of remembering)
Forget yesterday
(Gone, gone)
It ain't worth the pain
(Gone,…
The reason why he was at the rooftop killing his time like this was because something weird has been happening to him and he can't understand why.
Nero hasn't slept a single night since he came back from the hospital. Literally, he hadn't slept anything, not even a nap. Which shouldn't be possible, as he read that if someone spent the amount of time without sleeping that he did, they'll be dead by now. I don't understand any of this. He's not tired or anything, hell, he could keep doing combos all night and he wouldn't feel tired. Which he's actually done more than once already.
Another thing that he couldn't stop thinking about was the powers. Healing, telepathy, telepotation... is there more? He thought in curiosity.
After some time it was late enough that he had to go back to the orphanage. He quickly went to his room and pretended to be asleep until he was sure that it was safe to sneak out.
Nero just didn't want to spend the night laying on his bed for a sleep that wasn't going to come, so he decided to do something more productive, like walking around.
He started to do that every night, he managed to discover areas that he never knew before. Like an illegal fight club in the basement of a local bar that Nero actually sneaks in to watch some of the brutal fights. A strip club that he also sneaks in to watch the pretty girls dancing. He also found ways to enter closed arcades and play the games for free.
Nero was trying to decide what to do that night as he walks aimlessly through the streets. He has to hide when he sees cops passing through, because an eleven year old walking around at this hour is not exactly something that cops are okay with it.
Ironically, as he walked to the end of the street, he actually noticed several police cars in front of a building. What is going on? Nero asked himself as there was a lot of police officers in front of the building.
He looked up to see what building was that. Wait, that's the Osborn Penthouse. I saw it on TV once. Nero thought as he wondered what is going on. He decided to approach the situation to check.
Luckily, he saw two police officers leaning on their car, talking about something. He decided to approach and hide behind the car to eavesdrop. He could just read their minds but, it turns out that he has a headache every time that he does with someone that isn't Jean if he does it too much.
"It's been two hours, seriously, all of this because of a ring?" One of the cops complained, sounding extremely annoyed about the situation.
"A ring that costs more than everything we own combined." The other cop replied.
"There's no way the thief still on the building."
"There's dozens of cops checking the building, and Norman Osborn's personal security. They kept the entrance under surveillance, whoever the thief is, he didn't pass through there. They're also keeping an eye on all four sides of the building."
"Damn, I guess Osborn is the paranoid type."
"When you got as much money as he does, you need to be paranoid."
So... someone stole a very expensive ring from Norman Osborn. Nero thought. Well... as someone who's guilty of stealing from time to time, I can't really judge.
Nero decided to just sneak out of the area now that his curiosity was settled. But before he could do it, there was a gun shot coming from the left side building.
"What was that?!" one of the cops asked.
"A gunshot, let's go."
The two cops ran to check what was that noise, with several other cops and bodyguards wearing suits. Nero decided to get out of there as the last thing that he needs is another bullet hole in his body. He turned around to go back from where he came. But to his misfortune, he saw more police cars coming from that direction.
Shit, I can't let them catch me here. Nero thought. They all went to check the left side of the building, maybe I can sneak through the alleyway on the right side.
He decides to try to to get pass through the right side of the street to try to get on the street behind the building. He quickly runs there.
Okay, just pass through quickly and jump the other fence and get the hell out of this area. He thought as he walked quickly but silently to not make any noise.
But when he reached the middle of the way.
"Psssst, hey you?' Nero stopped walking when he heard someone whispering. He looked around but didn't see anyone. "Up here." He heard it again.
Nero looked up and saw someone on the window of the fourth floor. It was a girl, slightly older than himself. She was wearing a mask but Nero could see a bit of her hair which was platinum blond.
Before Nero could say anything, she said something, "Catch," before dropping something at Nero.
Nero ended up grabbing whatever she dropped by pure instinct. It was a small bag with something inside. He was very confused, so he asked. "What is this?"
"Try not to miss it." She told him, not answering his question.
"Who are you?" Nero asked.
She just smiled at him. "Let's make a deal, if you actually manage to help me out, I'll tell you." She left after saying that.
Nero was more confused than ever now. What the hell just happen? He then watched the small bag that she tossed him and he opened to check what it was. WHAT!? Inside of it, there was an very expensive looking ring. Which Nero instantly figured something out. She was the thief. He concluded. Wait, what the hell did she mean by helping her? "Hey! This is private property!"
You gotta to be fucking kidding me!
Out of nowhere, one of the police officer and a private security came back to the side of the building.
"What are doing here, boy?" The police officer asked.
The security guy on the black suit then pointed a flashlight on Nero, specifically at his hand. "It's the ring!" he yelled.
"Stop right there!" the police officer yelled at Nero.
Oh, hell no! The moment they started to approach him, Nero started to run as quick as he could to the other side of the building and jumped the fence covering the way to the street.
"Stop!" the police officer yelled as Nero passed through the fence.
Shit! I got to get of here. Nero thought as he started to run as fast as he could.
Note: Sorry for the massive delay, my PC broke, so I'm reduced to write on my phone.
Thanks everyone who follows and favorites my story.