Omega Kid
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Kick-Ass comic or film written by Mark Millar, or any guest characters from other Kick-Ass fanfic's they are owned by their own writers and creators. However, original characters in Omega Kid belong to me.
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Chapter 4: Test Run
Wednesday 17th February 2010
With the costume in development, I knew the next few days were going to be busy with me trying to get into shape. I can't afford to have another incident of me getting knocked out in one hit again, especially if they were going to be armed like the gunman. I had to turn my bedroom into a small, secret gym once again. However, this time I would need to make sure I was strong enough to take punches, as well as dish them out. That wasn't going to be as easy, but it had to be done if I really wanted to be a great superhero.
Not only that, I would also need a way to move about the city and hide in the shadows better, or make a run for it if things ever got too much for me to handle. It looked like free running, would be my safest bet, and that's my next target to learn. Luckily enough, there was a student in my school called Marquez who was an expert in the art of Parkour. He loved showing off his ninja-like abilities over the years, so I knew I just had to ask him for a few lessons and a bit of space to learn free running.
Thankfully, during break time, I found him working out on a treadmill in the school gym. I would have to make this quick, as only students who paid the school for membership cards were allowed in here. Rushing over to him, I thought that he would kick me away if I interrupted him during his workout, as he sprinted on the treadmill as it blasted at maximum speed. He made it look easy, though. ''Marquez?'' I called as I stood next to the machine, but not close enough to distract the runner.
''Who wants to know?''
''I was wondering if you could teach me Parkour!''
He glanced at me for a split-second before looking forward once more, as sweat poured down his face. ''You go to this school?'' He panted.
''Yes.''
''You have a gym membership card?''
I remained silent, thinking about lying, but that wouldn't work, as he'd just ask for proof. ''No, but I need…''
''You best leave, bro. Before someone sees you.''
''I will! But I just want to know if you'll train me to Parkour! You know like…jumping off of stuff and leaping over…more stuff.''
''Parkour is more than just jumping off stuff!'' He breathed heavily but still kept up the pace on the treadmill. ''It'll take months, maybe even years before you become an expert at it. And I'm not going to teach you for that long!''
''I'm not expecting you too! I just want a few lessons to get the hang of it! Half an hour after school for…a day or two tops! I promise!'' I pleaded, knowing that my time to ask him was very limited, as I stuck out like a sore thumb in this gym.
''Alright,'' He said, and I was about to thank him before he continued. ''Fifty quid each lesson!''
''What?'' I gasped loudly. That was the last thing I wanted to do because now I had a few other students in the gym stare at me. A gym teacher would catch me out any second now. I turned back to look at Marquez, who continued to sprint on the treadmill while having a conversation with me as if it was as easy as breathing. ''I'll be broke after just four lessons!''
''Then I'll cram as much in those lessons as I can. I'm not a charity!''
This is insane. Now matter how good of a teacher he is, he won't be able to teach me all I need to know in such a small number of lessons. I'd have a better chance of learning more from copying YouTube videos. Okay, probably not. There was not even any time for me to work a deal to lower the price, as I saw a teacher look over at me and Marquez and a suspicious look dawning on his face. ''Okay fine!'' I grumbled to the free runner.
''When do you want to start?'' He asked.
''Tomorrow, after school!''
''Alright, but no pay…no lesson.''
''Fine!'' I said quickly before showing off my sprinting skills as I burst out of the gym and headed for my next lesson.
My next task would be to become more aware of my surroundings. It would be useless to learn free-running if I had no idea where I was even going. So after school, I walked around the area, making sure to take notes down in my schoolbook. I made sure to remember every turning, every road and every alleyway. While I may not be the smartest kid around, my memory wasn't too shabby.
After a few hours of sightseeing, I thought that I had a very clear layout of the area around the school, and each day I could plan ahead to find the time and scout even further away. I don't have to learn about every street in London, just enough to know where I need to go if I want to get to places quicker or find a hideout. I doubt I'd be able to afford an underground base like a Batcave, especially if I was going to be spending all my money in less than a week over Parkour lessons.
Just as the sun started to set, I thought that maybe I could get a better idea of how to get around the area by looking down from the rooftops of a building.
Once I made sure no one ways looking, I placed my school book in my backpack and climbed up the pipe that ran from some chicken & chips corner shop. It didn't take long for me to finally reach the top. I grabbed the edge and hoisted myself up and over onto the roof. My arms were throbbing as I rested with my back to the ground…in this case, roof. As I lifted myself up, I reached for my backpack, hoping to get my schoolbook, but watched as it fell out of the zipper. Adrenaline got the best of me as I tried to grab it, and my balance slipped away from me, while my book dropped to the ground below. I felt weightless, I honestly believed for a second I was about to go over, but thankfully I managed to fall back down onto the nice, safe rooftop.
''Holy shit!'' I gasped. For that brief second, when I was looking down at the ever-expanding drop, I was reminded that there would be another problem I would have to face…
Thursday 18th February 2010
''You're afraid of heights?'' Marquez inquired.
''Is that a bad thing?''
''Well, if you want to as you put it, jump off stuff and leap over more stuff, you need to be confident enough to even get ready for it!'' He looked like he wanted to back out of this teaching role already.
Both of us stood in the middle of the empty, second-gym room. While the first consisted of treadmills and weights, this one was stacked with equipment that would be used to train free-runners. Vault boxes all lined up one after the other like a stack of giant dominos, while beside them were a couple of rails and wooden…precisions, I think that's what they're called, right?
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and gave a heavy sigh. ''Whatever, at least I'm getting paid.'' Then he walked up to me and handed me a laminated card. ''This is your gym membership card. You're lucky I'm a gym teacher's pet! You would've had to pay me extra to get that. As long as you have that, you can train in either gym yourself if I'm not around. From mornings until an hour after school ends.''
''Cool,'' I said with a smile and looked down at my card, though once I read it, my smile faltered. ''Uh…it's got my name wrong.'' I showed him my card, which had spelt my name as Tomas Lank.
''Whatever, just be glad you got one. Now, you have half an hour of hell with me, let's get started!''
When he said that I would have half an hour of hell with him, I thought he was exaggerating…it didn't take me long to find out he wasn't. There wasn't a moment of rest for me, as I sprinted, jumped, climbed and pulled myself over everything that lay in my way, following his every barking command.
My arms and legs were numb after five minutes…then jelly after ten…led at fifteen minutes…after that, my mind must have blacked out while my body subconsciously moved. The only water break I got was Marquez splashing a cup in my face if I wasn't running quick enough, or climbing over high enough. He pushed multiple ledges together and timed me as I raced from one end to another. There were a couple of times where I fell off the edge. At least it was a soft, safety mat that welcomed me, and the height was nowhere near high enough to trouble me.
If felt like this torture would continue endlessly, until I heard those sweet words from Marquez. ''Time up!'' As soon as I heard those two, beautiful sounds, I collapsed onto the mat and lay in a pile of sweat and agony. The next thing I heard was his laughter as he walked over to me, looking down on me with a wide grin. ''I have to admit you didn't do too badly for a first lesson.''
''Thanks.'' I huffed. Even though I didn't have any strength to move a muscle in my body, a smile managed to plant itself on my face. I was actually quite proud of what I was doing. But despite that, I was just glad today was done. ''So, that's lesson over, right?''
''For me, yes.''
''What?''
He offered a helping hand, which I just about managed to grab. He managed to help me onto my feet. The dizziness rushed into my head and I felt like I was going to throw up any second. Training myself in my room with some dumbbells and push-ups was easy, I could make my own rules and say when enough was enough, but with Mr Drill-Sargent here, I didn't have that luxury anymore.
As I tried to get my bearings, I asked him again. ''What do you mean the lesson's over for just you?''
''That little case of Vertigo you've got will come back and bite you in the ass one day if you're not careful. You need to get used to it.'' He took a step to the side, which forced me to look towards the other side of the gym where the rock-climbing wall was. ''So, for half an hour after every lesson with me, and whenever you have free time between lessons, you're going to try and climb that. And you will keep climbing until you reach the top.''
At this point, I was too tired to argue with him. While the wall was quite high, it shouldn't be that difficult as long as I don't look down. And at least he's not charging me extra for this little bit of training. ''Okay, I can do that.''
''Good. Now, if you'll excuse me,'' He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fifty-pound note, my fifty-pound note that I gave him, and headed for the exit. ''I'm off to treat myself to a take-out, and new video game. See you tomorrow.''
''I hate you,'' I mumbled under my breath. There was no way he could hear me, he was already gone. I looked at the rock-climbing wall, and all of a sudden it looked higher than it was before. I can do this! I can do this! It wasn't that high. If I'm going to be a superhero I want to be and not the scared little boy who's so nerve-wrecked he wouldn't go on a plane, look out the window of a very, tall building, or even got scared when he looked down the stairs in his own house, then I needed to learn to face my fears.
Wasting no time, I approached the wall and put my hands into two of the rock-thingies jutting out and started to climb. I wanted to get this over with quickly, so I rushed, not the best idea, but I figured I would be okay as long as I didn't look down. The higher I got, the further apart the rock-thingies became from each other. As my hands dug into two more, just as I passed the half-way point and seemed to be doing well, my right leg dangled in the air and tried to find a rock-thingy to stand on.
Oh crap, I can't find one. I tried to lower my body to find one, but my sweaty hands slipped off and I fell.
THUD!
''Ow!'' I whimpered after crashing down onto the safety mat. Okay, maybe this wasn't going to be so easy.
I tried a second time, without rushing to the top like before. It seemed to be going well as I reached the same point I was at before, but this time, I didn't hurry into finding a rock-thingy to step on. Just as I made it past the point I got to before, I once again had trouble finding one to step on. No matter how far or low I stretched my leg, but I still couldn't find one without taking the risk of slipping off again.
Oh double crap, that's when I realised…I need to look down in order to see where to place my foot.
I was stuck. No option but to look down. I tried to focus only on my foot, but I couldn't it was like the ground was going to swallow me up, and even if I held on tightly I still had that fear of letting go. I lost all feelings in my fingers, and before I knew it, they slithered off once again.
THUD!
''Ow!''
Okay, I can't do this.
The walk home after school must have taken twice as long because of my sore legs dragging along the streets. Thankfully for me, Jenna was still at work so I wouldn't be asked why I'm late from school today.
I rounded the corner about to head for the front door to my house, just as a postman also arrived, holding a package in his hand, and knocked on the door a couple of times before he spotted me. ''Are you Mr Lanks?''
''Yeah.''
''Package for you!''
There was no waiting around for me because I knew exactly what was in that package. I quickly grabbed it off of him and signed for it, then rushed inside. Anticipation radiated off of me like money seemed to radiate off of Bill Gates. I tore the package open and marvelled at the suit inside, it would still need some work to really make it mine, luckily I had picked up some sewing and stitching skills from Jenna when she used to have a part-time job as a tailor for a few months.
While the delivery was a bit earlier than I expected, I had managed to get the other little bits and pieces that I needed, such as the belt and silver material to make the streaks down the arms and across the chest. I managed to find a pair of black gloves for added protection and punching power. Though not silver like I hoped, they would do the trick just fine. The dark blue Omega symbol proudly displayed in the middle completed the look. My costume was now ready.
I looked at myself in the mirror and almost didn't recognise myself. Yeah, okay, I had a mask on and developed a bit of muscle, that's not what I meant. I meant that I felt different, like a person reborn. Like if you saw Jesus Christ for the first time, except he was in superhero spandex.
Wow, I must be knackered from the Parkour training, my brain is going wacko.
Friday 19th February 2010
The next morning, the achiness was still swirling around my body, but at least I felt like I could walk to school without collapsing. However, I knew that feeling would return once my lessons were over and I started training with Marquez afterwards.
I prepared myself some breakfast and went to check on Jenna, who was still fast asleep in her room, recovering from her late shift last night. On the one hand, I was sad that she had to work her socks off, but in a way I'm kind of glad, otherwise she would have got the package with my suit in and then I would have had a heap of questions thrown onto me that I might not have been able to answer.
Speaking of my suit, while I was filling my backpack with revision books, I thought about taking it with me. I doubt I'm actually going to need it today, but it can be my lucky charm that I carry around. Everyone has a lucky penny or lucky number two pencils…I can have a lucky superhero costume. So I stuffed the suit in, making sure it was covered properly and zipped shut, and headed out the door to go to school.
My walks didn't usually take long, no more than twenty minutes to get there. After about five, I rounded a corner that led to a big car park and froze on the spot when I saw what was going on. Jason's biggest minion, Michael Martin, was harassing some poor kid about half his age over his phone. This was not how I intended to start my day.
I ducked for cover behind a bin before either of them could see me, as Michael continued to bully the kid by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and shaking him about like a ragdoll with just one hand. The kid bravely and stupidly tried to hold onto his phone for dear life, not wanting to let it go. If Jason could knock me out with one hit, I don't even want to begin to imagine what his giant servant could do to me.
Although, Michael was only a little bit large than the gunman from the store. If I could take that guy down, surely I had a chance against a school bully! It was worth a shot. At least from the looks of things, it was just him today. If Jason and his other buddies were here then I'd be royally screwed. One on one was perfect for me. So I reached for my backpack and changed into my costume.
I have to admit, it wasn't the greatest suit-up moment ever, as I tried to put the costume on over my clothes. It took a bit of fumbling, but I finally got it on. The mask folded down over my face and I put on my black gloves. Now was time to make my move!
I leapt out from behind the bin and into plain view at the entrance of the car park. ''Hey Mich…'' I stopped myself before saying his name. ''You! Leave that kid alone!''
The giant stopped what he was doing and stared back at me. I tried my best to look intimidating and tough and prayed that he wouldn't recognise me under my mask…actually, I don't think he'd recognise me even if I didn't have my mask. Michael's expression of surprise quickly turned into one of hilarity as he laughed loudly at me. ''Oh my god, you can't be serious?''
As if Michael making fun of me wasn't bad enough, even the kid, still held tightly in his grip, looked embarrassed for me.
Maybe next time I'll just have my costume on underneath my civilian clothes rather than trying to fit my costume over whatever I was wearing. I probably looked like a bloated Tellytubby. My confidence really took a knock as Michael continued to laugh at me, but I stood my ground. ''I am serious! Let the kid go!'' I said shakily.
His laughter slowed when he realised I wasn't backing down. I didn't know what to do now that I had his attention, I didn't expect myself to get into a fight today, especially this early in the morning. The car park wasn't too packed either, so the chances of anyone else coming soon were slim at best. Eventually, he let go of the kid, who wasted no time in making a run for the closest exit to the street. ''Thanks, and watch out, he has a baseball bat!'' He called out.
''What?'' I yelled. Just like that, Michael turns his body to fully face me, and in his other hand was a fair-sized wooden baseball bat. How many people carry baseball bats in London?
''Are you still serious now?'' He asked me cockily. Oh, and the baseball bat wasn't bad enough, because, after that, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of knuckle-dusters which he gladly placed over his hands. To say I was scared now would be an understatement. Sure, not as scary as facing down a gun, but this had to come pretty close. At least with the gun, if done right it would be quick, but if Michael was half as ruthless as Jason, then he would gladly make me suffer as long as possible.
Despite every bone in my body telling me to run, I stand my ground like the dumbass I am. He could tell how scared I was, as he advanced towards me with a smile on his face, slowly at first.
Before I had time to even get myself ready, his walk developed into a sprint. Reflexes helped me, as just as he was about to whack me with the bat, I ducked and punched at his leg. BAM! He groaned and stumbled a bit while I tried to move as far away from him as I could. He charged at me again, his arms drawn back as he was ready to strike. I could already tell he wasn't the fastest person, especially compared to the gunman. Taking that into account, I charged at him as well and gave him a quick Sparta-kick to his chest that sends him flying back.
I can't believe it. I'm actually doing okay! I ran at him, hoping to kick the bat out of his hand before he had time to recover. BAAM! Too late…the bat is swung and connects with my leg, just over the knee, causing me to crash to the ground. The pain was unbearable. The throbbing and tearing inside made it feel like my leg was going to snap off. I looked around and saw Michael get up and move towards me. I rolled to the side as he swung wildly at me. If he weren't so slow, I would have been mincemeat.
I hop back onto my own to feet and punch him in the face. BAM! But the contact wasn't as hard as I wanted it to be because I couldn't keep my balance with my bad leg. I tried not to cave in as my leg felt like it was shrivelling beneath me. He continued to swing at me, but I evaded every strike. BAM! I even managed to hit him in the face again. But here's where the problem really started. He knew now that I was too fast for him with the bat…so he threw that away and got his fists ready.
While I was limping backwards, he sprinted towards me like an Olympian. BAM! BAM! I kept my arms up over my face for protection, but those two punches he landed still hurt a lot. BAM! Then he kicked me on my bad leg and I stumbled to the ground in pain. Once I was down, his punches stopped. He was showboating, waving his arms around triumphantly as if he had already beaten me.
I needed to think of someone quickly if I had any chance of evening out this fight. And evening this fight out is exactly what I intended to do, as I surprised him by jumping at him and grabbed his right hand. I had to be quick. He grabbed me by the shoulder and tossed me back onto the ground, causing me to land in a painful heap. However, it wasn't too bad, as I got exactly what I was hoping to get.
I looked up to see him move his right arm back ready for the finishing punch, just as I hoped he would, so I punched his fist with my right hand. True, he was stronger than me physically, but now I had something to help me out…his knuckle-duster, which I managed to nab from him. CRACK! Once our fists collided, I heard the sound of bones cracking, and saw him reel away while crying out in pain and holding his hand.
Now the fight was back in the balance, as I slowly got back to my feet. There wasn't much time for me to think of a new attack because he got himself back into the fight and charged at me, spearing me into the closest car beside us. My back crashed into the vehicle hard, but he wasn't done there. He wrapped his left arm around me, pulling me away from the car and then he sprinting forward, about to spear me into the brick wall next. Before we crashed into it, I grabbed his arm behind my back and moved slightly so that his right hand would hit the wall as well.
We struck the wall, my back and his hand. He instantly let go of me and tended to his bloody, misshapen hand, while I hobbled away and leant against another car. I don't know what was hurting more, my leg or my back…definitely my leg; I knew that once I tried to stand up straight.
As I felt like I was running out of options, I looked down and noticed the baseball bat a short distance from where I was. I turned to look at him, and he did so with me. We both had the same thought, and after a brief moment, we both ran for the bat. While the weapon was closer to me than him, I was in no shape to run with my bad leg, so he easily made up ground and reached the bat first. However, he made the mistake of trying to pick it up with his broken hand. He yelped and then tried to grab it with his other hand, by that point, I had reached for it and stole it from him. Without even taking a second to aim or think of what he might do next, I swung as hard as I could with the little strength I had left.
BAAM! The bat smashed against his face, blood splattered out from his nose and mouth, I think I even saw a tooth fly out as well. He went to ground, unconscious and defeated.
When I knew for certain that he wasn't getting back up anytime soon, I limped towards him and placed my fingers over his wrists, hoping to feel a pulse. There was one, thank God for that. The bat dropped from my hand and I crumbled to the ground. Despite my back feeling like it was twisted in a couple of places, and the giant bruise that must be forming over my leg, I felt fantastic. I did it! I won my first real fight as Omega Kid!
However, that feeling of victory didn't last long as I remember something. ''Oh crap, I'm late for school!''
''What's with the limp?'' Alex asked me. He and Steph were sitting at their usual spot in Comic-City waiting for me. They, as well as others in the shop, could easily see through my attempts at hiding my limp. It was bad enough I had stares from other students in school all day, but I didn't really care too much, I was too inspired by what I accomplished this morning, it was all I could think about, and I wanted to check and see if these two had heard about it.
I hissed a little as I sat in my seat opposite theirs; my leg was stiff as a board. ''Oh…P.E today was…'' As I tried to give my excuse, I then remembered something I had forgotten about because I was so wrapped up in my superhero activities. ''Oh crap! I forgot about the Parkour!'' Maybe my memory wasn't as good as I thought.
''Parkour?'' Alex questioned. ''Since when does your school do Parkour? Our school doesn't!''
''No, it's just another activity I'm doing myself.'' I shrugged that aside. I'll deal with Marquez when next week starts. Right now, I wanted to know what the brothers thought about the news of the newest superhero on the block. ''So, did either of you hear?''
They looked at each other for a bit then turned back to me. ''Hear what?''
''Come on, it must have been on the news!''
''There was lots of stuff on the news,'' Alex said. ''Crisis this, global warming that…oh wait, I know what you're talking about!''
''You do?''
''Yeah, in the USA, apparently a group of sorority girls dressed up as Disney Princesses and torched their school, burning it completely to the ground!''
''Uh…'' I had no idea how to respond to that. That's certainly not something you hear every day, but that's not what I wanted to bring up. ''No, I mean, was there nothing in the news about a kid who goes to my school? Michael Martin?''
The two of them pondered the name, trying to remember something. Alex was the first to respond as he shook his head. ''I've heard you mention him before, one of Jason's pack, but I didn't hear anything about him today. Why are you bringing this up?''
Great, I can't talk in too much detail about what happened otherwise it would look really suspicious. ''It's just…I heard some rumours about something that happened to him this morning. He was beaten up by someone after he harassed a boy…''
I was interrupted as Stephen clicked his fingers and got our attentions. ''Oh yeah, I heard that story!''
''You did?''
''Yeah, they didn't actually say any names, but a kid reported to the police that he was about to get his phone nicked by someone, and then some hobo dressed in a Power Rangers costume saved him.''
Alex quickly burst into a fit of laughter, which prompted Steph to laugh with him. As for me, I sat in my seat, frozen with disbelief. ''A hobo in a Power Rangers costume?'' I said, making sure that I heard those words from Steph.
He nodded. ''That's what the kid reported. They couldn't find who the hobo was, but Michael was arrested for attempted theft.''
''Oh Jesus,'' Alex panted as he tried to stop himself from laughing. ''What a time to be alive when Disney Princesses and Power Rangers are taking over the world.''
While those two sat there enjoying their little laughing fit, I was there not sure how to comprehend the situation. One the one hand, my act of heroics had made the news, but on the other…a hobo in a Power Rangers costume? Really? That's the best way that kid I saved could have described my costume?
Me sitting in silence must have gone noticed by those two because once Alex had managed to bring his laughter down to just a few light chuckles, he stared at me. ''What's up with you?''
''Well, just…to me, in my own unbiased opinion, it sounds like a superhero was involved.''
''With the Disney Princess story, or the Power Rangers one?'' Steph asked me.
''The Power Ranger…I mean, the one about a hobo…no, the guy who saved the kid from Michael!'' I managed to babble out.
Before Steph could say more, Alex was already ranting away. ''You're not really going to bring up the superhero thing again, are you?''
''Yeah, I am! Because to me, this sounds like the work of a superhero!''
He still didn't look convinced. ''Thomas, for all we know, the kid probably has an active imagination, and he mistook a hobo's blanket for a superhero costume…''
''Because a blanket and a superhero costume are two things that could easily get mistaken for one another!''
''Maybe!'' Alex stressed. ''Look, from what you've said about Michael and how tough he was in school, it must have taken the guy to have major balls to save a kid from him. But that doesn't automatically mean it was a superhero. What if it was just a one-time thing, and we never hear of him again?''
There was no possible way for me to answer that without giving something away to them. If I continued to argue, eventually they would put two and two together and realise I know more about the Michael situation than I should. So, I reluctantly decided to remain silent. A part of them did want me to let them in on my secret. They've been my best friends for as long as I can remember, it would be cool if they knew about what I had done, but it might not be the best time. I only put on the costume for the first time this morning, and I wasn't expecting any kind of action so soon. I'm going to need a little more experience with this before I let Alex and Steph know.
''Anyways, there's something we need to tell you,'' Alex said out of nowhere. He and Steph leant across the table slightly, and he beckoned me to do so as well as if he had some big secret of his own he needed to tell me. Judging from the serious and worried expressions on their faces, it must be something important, so I leant in closer to hear Alex whisper. ''We have a situation…Code Pink!''
I felt my heart drop and my stomach churn once I heard those two words. I looked at them, hoping that they were just pulling my leg and this was all a big joke…their faces of fear never changed, they were telling the truth. ''But she's not due for another four months!''
''Well, aren't we lucky,'' He mumbled sarcastically. ''Because there are two things you should know! One…her parent's decided to drop her off early! And two…her date to go back is still the same. So we're stuck with her for more than the usual twelve months!''
''And three…'' Steph whimpered.
''Three? I thought you said just two?'' I questioned.
''Three,'' Alex followed as his face became pale with fright. ''She's standing right behind you, and we're going to hide under this table! Cover for us!'' Faster than the Flash, they both dived under the table and out of sight. I grunted with pain as one of them barged into my bad leg. But I had no time to be concerned with that, I needed to know for sure if this wasn't some big prank and the real deal, and when I turned and saw the person we were talking about, I almost wished that I was still fighting Michael right now.
I turned back around, trying to avoid any kind of eye contact with Crystal Johnson, Alex and Stephen's cousin. Her parents were quite wealthy business partners, starting up their own brand of perfumes and colognes some years ago, back when I was too young to even spell perfume right. Though their company was founded, and still mostly going strong in America, they still liked to ship Crystal over to visit her aunt, which turns out to be Alex and Stephen's mother. However, not just a weekend or weeklong visit, this is a full year visit, once every four years!
She was only one year older than Alex and me; with long, flowing blonde hair, a pretty round face, a particular style of fashion wear that included everything colourful, to the point where at times she would look like a walking, children's colouring book. Apparently, she was cheerleader captain at her school in America, as well as her private school here in London. She considered herself top of the food chain and the most special thing on this Earth. If anyone disagreed with her or got on her bad side, they would be faced with the wrath of someone whose anger could make Hannibal Lector wet their pants in terror.
It's ironic that the only girl who I could hold a conversation with throughout the first part of my young life, without ever blushing, could yell so loud that if would feel like my face was being blown off by the engine of a fighter jet. Thankfully whenever she stayed over, she ignored me; it was Alex and Stephen who would usually have to hide from her rampages. That being said, I'm not going to bring up what happened to the three of us at Crystal's 12th Birthday party.
I hoped that would be the case again right now, but once I felt a firm hand grab my shoulder and force me to look the other way, I knew I had been caught out. With no choice but to face her, I stared at an expression that was filled with boiling rage and fury. Up close, I noticed the changes since her last visit. She was a little bit plumper than before, not quite the same as Rachael, but there were some noticeable curves. She also had a piercing over her eyebrows, with little diamonds shining from them. With her parent's wealth, I wouldn't be surprised if they were real. The one thing that hadn't changed, though, was that red anger behind her brown pupils.
''Where are they?'' She hissed.
''Uh…'' It's amazing how I'm more scared of Crystal right now, then anything I've faced this past week.
I think she knew I was too intimidated to give an honest answer or any for that matter. So she took matters into her own hands. She let go of my shoulder and proceeded to smash her fists on the table over and over again. Alex and Stephen yelling underneath. ''Ah! Alright, alright!'' Soon enough, they both crawled out from under the table and leant against their seats.
Once they were back up, Crystal reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, gold ring and slammed it on the table. There was a very noticeable crack going across it. ''Can either of you explain how my ring, that you two were supposed to look after while I was out, got damaged?''
''Hey, first off, it was Steph's turn to look after…'' Alex protested.
''What? I looked after it last time!'' Steph said.
''When I give stuff like this to you, I expect both of you to watch over it! This ring probably costs more than what you'll have to pay for University.''
''Don't know about that,'' Alex commented. ''The way inflation's going…''
He didn't get far with his remark, as Crystal raised a single finger to silence him. ''I don't care! Both of you are in big trouble, and I want a word with the pair of you when you get home…'' She then lifted her arm and looked at her wrist, like she was pretending to wear a watch. ''Which is now!''
''We just got here!''
''I go back to my last statement…I. Don't. Care.''
The two of them looked at me, pleading for some kind of assistance like I could really offer any. If I had a choice between taking on Jason and his crew or Crystal…then I'd announce an early retirement and hide under a rock. They both slunk away, cowering under their cousin's frightening power. Crystal followed after them, leaving me alone at the table.
I noticed that she had left behind her scratched ring on the table. At first, I was too nervous to call out to her and thought it best just to let her leave and avoid any more confrontations with her. But my good nature took over, as I picked up the ring and called out to her. ''Cr-Crystal?''
She was at the door when she turned to look back at me and saw the ring in my hand. For a split second, her eyebrows were raised and a look of panic appeared on her face. But that was gone just as quickly as it appeared, as she stormed her way back over to me. I held out my hand with the ring in my palm, and she grabbed it off me as I backed away, like I was afraid she was going to bite my fingers off. Without a word, she hurried out the door, stuffing the ring in her back pocket.
I guess it was time for me to head home as well. Jenna's shift here finished an hour ago, so she'll be home and will probably have a few questions to ask about my limping. I could just make up an excuse about it coming from the gym in school. But I knew the truth, I made my first superhero rescue, and it felt awesome.
After the gunman situation, and then stopping Michael, I really felt that I had what it takes to be a real superhero.
Look out, world! There's a new superhero in town, and his name is Omega Kid!
To Be Continued…
If you'd like, you can follow my original stories on Wattpad. My penname is Thomas-LF. Thank you for your time, if you do read them, I hope you enjoy them.