Little Guang fiddles with his sunglasses and his face mask, making sure they don't accidentally get entangled and both get thrown off by him removing one. Oh, the struggles of a celebrity when trying to be unsuspecting.
Ever since his birth, since powers first manifested, the world looked at him in wonder and amazement. Since the moment his parents capitalized on his little quirk, the world called him the 'Luminescent Baby.' He's long since grown up, eleven years of age, yet still most people who interact with him, especially fans and interviewers, keep on using this moniker.
Little Guang did not hate his parents for them making him their key to riches. In fact, he loves them, for though they used him to gain money, most of that money went to him and his little sister, and more recently, towards other activism efforts that weren't headed by himself.
But above all, he loves them because they taught him to be human.
He sidesteps a large man walking angrily though the sidewalk, and ducks his head a little more. A few seconds later, someone gets hit on the shoulder.
"Piss off, boy!" The man says, going back to his way.
Little Guang sighs. He knows by now how dangerous he could have been had his parents not existed, if they never tried to guide or discipline him using traditional human chinese values. Above all them are harmony and filial piety. Both have become his new goals in life, in contrast to his previous empty, aimless, thoughtless actions and wanderings. All in the attempt to feel something else, anything else.
The one who is following him stops, pausing as if to pretend that Little Guang isn't being followed.
Unfortunately, he knows that he's being followed. He has known since the stalker first started stalking him, when he first followed him on his way home from his school.
But Little Guang isn't scared. He has no reason to be, for nothing in this new world can truly defeat him.
Because Little Guang was merely an avatar. A puppet made of flesh and blood, and power. A small, insignificant fragment of the entity who calls himself the Warrior.
Little Guang whistles to himself as he readjusts his hoodie, the one that his parents insists he wear because it hides his glow, his stilling light. The stalker matches him step by step as he crosses the road. He sees a billboard with his glowing face plastered on it, the words, 'You're human, too!' written in mandarin in the bottom.
His parents were the first ones who pushed him into the stage, who used him as a way to help children like him be treated like every other normal child. That these so-called 'Meta Humans' should be treated with the respect that every other human has, and not reduced to mere experiments, or slaves, or enemies.
Advocacy was easy for one such as Little Guang. His words and gestures were guided by the paths to the perfect speeches that inspire harmony among the entire human race. It didn't take long for him to garner millions of followers, and inspire others to advocate for Meta Human rights as well.
But none of this would have happened if not for that one fateful day.
The Warrior remembers Kevin Norton's words on his deathbead. For a mere human to help him so much... it baffled him.
"You could start again, you know. I wish I could, if I knew how my life would turn out. I'd have done better, live a better life. You could, too. I know you could. I don't know if you're going to listen to me, but please... Go back, to when you were born. Please, try to be more human. Be human, Scion. Be human for yourself."
And so he did. He set timeline back to his avatar's first appearance, but now born as a human offspring, with human parents.
Though the human known as Kevin Norton was not aware of the fact that the Warrior was not born human, his advice was still helpful. It will not hurt him to listen to Kevin Norton's request. Perhaps, the Warrior thought then, it could be a way for him to finally remove the strange emotions he'd felt since he took this human form. "Grief," Kevin Norton once said, though he also called it fake, called it artificial.
It is indeed fake, and simulated, but all the same, the Warrior was still affected. Now, he wonders what it is that makes something real. Is it not if they can interact with you, and affect you? He thinks to himself, everything is real in its own, special way. Philosophy was new to him. It makes him appreciate his past self's decision to listen to Kevin Norton's words.
He smiles, and turns to an alleyway, waiting for his stalker to follow him.
"Hey, you," The stalker, a cocky teenage boy, sneers at him. His hair was white. A thing that was only possible through bleaching or old age in the old timeline. The Warrior, now known as 'Little Guang,' turns around and smiles at the boy.
"You're the Luminescent Baby, right? I'm a big fan!" the boy says, smiling, eyes hungry and malicious. "I always wanted to meet my hero. You inspired a lot of people with meta abilities to be their true selves."
The boy was a host of a myriad of his shards, but in the center of them all stood a foreign shard. A parasitic one that affects whatever shard of a host that its own host touches, reconnecting it towards itself, then others. A remnant of another, unknown entity. It seems that this boy has taken many shards. Even in the now modified, more peaceful cycle, it was rare for one to be gathering data as much as this. The Warrior is pleased.
The boy extends his hand. Little Guang looks at it, smile widening behind his mask. He shakes the boy's hand. The boy grins.
The handshake ends. The boy smiles more widely, and speaks,
"You know, you don't deserve that fame." The boy snaps his fingers.
Little Guang reduces Stilling's brightness to play along. He makes himself look confused. The boy's grin becomes even wider, and speaks,
"Why should the world cater to your whims just because you're the first meta that they've seen? I'm older than you."
The boy steps closer, "I wonder how you've managed to rally so many people to you? You look pathetic," he coos, "You act like it, too. Weakling."
The boy floats in the air, seemingly as a show of domination. In the past timeline's cycle, flight was as common as grass in a field. Now, the Warrior made them less common. Little Guang feels nostalgic. He steps back in faux fear.
The boy tilts his head and continues, "Look at me. I'm far more powerful than you, but they overlook me in favor of you. If I had your light, don't you think I'd be better at this than you? You're weak. If I were you, I'd make the world live for me."
The boy closes his eyes, and his smile softens. He continues, "In stories, the people pay tribute to the Demon Lord because they were afraid. I'd make them all fear me, serve me. All of it, all for one."
Little Guang bursts into laughter.
The boy starts to look confused, and flustered. He uses one of his shards and strangles Little Guang with telekinesis.
The boy looks annoyed. He complains and whines, "Why can't I use your ability?!"
Little Guang remembers when his parents used him for fame. They are good people, beneath their want for money, but in their act trying to secure his and his little sister's future, they've lead him to becoming someone he doesn't even like. He doesn't like the spotlight, of how boring it is to be a celebrity. He has done nothing but study and make speeches and go to interviews.
Boring, boring, boring. He has no time to do anything else. He wants to explore the world, become a tourist, and live what humans call a 'normal life.'
Little Guang looks at the confused, angry boy in contemplation. Maybe he'll have a chance at leaving all this. Maybe, he'll...
He fakes his death. His parents become sad, his little sister ignorant. The death of the first Meta Human affects millions of people, eventually billions. It affects talks with the government giving Meta Humans more rights and protections, like with normal humans. He would not have a human identity, because he'd be officially dead. He'll have trouble being more 'normal.'
No, that's dumb... With his newfound humanity and upbringing, he can think of better questions to ask.
Little Guang paths another, smarter way. Steps fill his mind. He feels pleased at the results. Now, he only has to execute it all.
Little guang smiles, and speaks, "You want my shard? Okay."
The boy attacks him with more abilities. Thorns, tentacles, wind blades, thrown concrete. He looks even more frustrated. He shouts in rage, "WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU?!"
Little Guang laughs at this, and raises his hand. Bright light appears, and hits all the apparitions. They explode and disappear. His own precision control of Stilling greatly pleased him. It always does, but now even more so when he can appreciate it as a human.
"What?!" The boy exclaims. Little Guang uses another shard. One that he shed in the first timeline.
Suddenly, the boy's eyes dull, and he lowers himself to the floor, standing still, breathing normally.
"Destination," The Warrior speaks. A bud from Stilling, the size of a city, forms a reply,
Agreement, it replies.
"Trajectory," The Warrior speaks. The bud forms a reply, and readies to connect,
Agreement.
Suddenly, the boy glows. Little Guang smiles, pleased.
The Warrior gives the boy false memories. He killed Little Guang and took his shard. The Warrior gives his mind an order to never talk publicly about Little Guang's death. Of him subconsciously avoiding everything that Little Guang associates or interacts with. Of him subconsciously never crossing paths with Little Guang again. The Warrior paths the future and sees that the boy will tell a few individuals, and those individuals will spread rumors... Rumors that are never challenged nor investigated deeply, eventually disappearing from public eyes.
Two sides will form. One that knows that Little Guang never died and is simply laying low, and the other side are fans from foreign countries who will never interact with the first side, believing simply that either Little Guang has retired or simply died.
His retirement from the media will never amount to any level of buzz that will last in the memories of humanity. Though he is the first Meta in their eyes, they will not care for him. They will all be distracted by those who follow in his footsteps. People who will inspire others and bring peace between hosts and non-hosts.
The Warrior is finished.
Clarity returns to the boy's eyes. Suddenly, he grins and cackles, "Now, the world will be my oyster." Little Guang smiles, and slaps the boy's face.
The boy, seemingly unable to see Little Guang's existence, doesn't react to the slap and simply leaves. Little Guang repairs the damages—both the boy's face and the surrounding areas—and follows him out of the alleyway.
The boy walks across the street, still hiding his powers. He bumps into a bunch of people, but does nothing against them. Little Guang chuckles, amused. He shakes his head.
The Warrior paths a way for him to convince his parents that his retirement from the celebrity life is the best. Arguments surrounding his schoolwork and living a normal life somehow work. His father is convinced that they've profited enough off of him. His mother wants him to have a high paying job in the future, honoring them through my achievements and helping them live off of his income. Damage control from his retirement is complicated, but it will happen, and easily.
He turns, walking away from that fateful alleyway, walking towards home.
'Maybe we should go on a week-long vacation,' Little Guang thinks to himself. 'Maybe somewhere warm. After all the damage control is done.'
Little Guang smiles.
'I can't wait to get more free time.'