Beginnings; The Taste of Power

“Let her go!” I demanded, my voice shaking. I was not going to go back home without Angela—even if my life depended on it. Despite being scared to the bone, my resolve was absolute.

“Le... le... let her go!” Randy sneered. “Pathetic! Did you think you could run away from me?”

“Please! It’s me you want. Don’t do anything to her! I’ll…I’ll report you!”

“Report me? Wait a minute! What kind of bastards do you think we are? Pervert! We’re not like you. We’d never force a girl to do anything. I heard your sister is an A student just like you. So we came here to study together, isn’t that right, sweetheart?” Randy said, then he caressed Angela’s cheek.

Everything around me began going dark, and a sharp sound raced in my ear. The rage inside me screamed.

“I said let her go, you bastard!” I screamed, throwing a punch at Randy. But before I could touch him, one of the minions caught me, and they began beating me up.

I wondered about the reason behind my existence. How was I going to protect my family while being so weak? I was getting beat up in front of my younger sister, and I couldn’t even throw a single punch.

“Please let us go!” Angela begged, shaking in fear.

Seeing my sister cry and beg for me to stop being hit crushed my soul into pieces. The hopelessness I felt echoed throughout my entire body. It was the first time I had resented myself to such an extreme degree—the point where I wanted to kill them all and then take my own life for being too weak to protect my own sister.

“Hey,” Randy continued, “did you hear that? Your sister is begging me to let you go.” They laughed at us while kicking every inch of my spine.

I knelt down, realizing that fighting them was not going to work.

“I am sorry. I won’t run away anymore. From now on, I will come whenever you call me.”

“Oh! You have finally come to your senses. Now that’s a good boy!”

I had made up my mind. They were unaware that I was planning something completely different. My head was down, but my fists were tightening.

“This is how it’s supposed to be!” Randy added. “Today is such a good day that it deserves celebration, wouldn’t you agree? Stand up, dance for us before we go, fast!”

That’s what happens when you put your head down—things don’t get better! But I was biding my time carefully and couldn’t risk them hurting my sister. I stood up and did as Randy instructed. They made me wear a skirt and filmed me as I danced about. I was a puppet. The rage within me burned hotter with every second. When all my sense of pride was erased, something else emerged: a clear goal, devoid of emotions. After that, I took my sister and we went back home. I promised her that nothing like that would ever happen again—and made her promise not to tell our mother.

Reaching home, I immediately rushed to my father’s lab in the basement. I removed one vial from the hidden bag of ten vials full of purple serum that Number One had instructed me to keep safe. I was no longer going to let Randy and his minions have control over my life. Holding the vial tightly, I made a silent vow to myself and my family: I would become stronger and protect everyone I love.

I opened one of the vials and gulped down the entire content. Immediately after, a heavy sensation coursed through my body. The pain was so intense that I lost consciousness for 30 minutes. When I came to, I felt an unmistakable change within myself. A euphoric feeling unlike any I had ever experienced surged through me. My senses were amplified, and I could feel the energy coursing through my body. Even fear felt distant from my heart. From that moment, I was sure I had gained superpowers.

Unable to fall asleep, I rose from bed early, did some push-ups, and prepared for the day ahead. I could tell I had gotten stronger, and that my newfound power was going to help me finally destroy my enemies. I felt a surge of confidence.

With that, I entered the classroom and immediately looked for Randy. Seeing him napping at his desk with eye patches, I walked straight toward him, attracting everyone's attention with my determined stride. My heart began racing. As a hero about to bring justice, I stood tall and confident.

“Randy!” I called out, my voice unyielding and filled with absolute resolve.

“Err! Who dares to disturb my sleep?” Randy grumbled, removing his patches and seeing me standing before him, chest out and resolute.

“You! I’ll give you three seconds to explain why you woke me up, and then I’m gonna beat you either way.”

Randy’s minions stood up and surrounded me, waiting for Randy’s signal.

“Let’s not do this here! Come outside!” I challenged.

“What!” Randy and everyone else were shocked to hear me talking back.

“Is he out of his mind?” Justin, one of Randy’s minions, asked, confused.

“Come on!” I walked outside, and they followed me to the usual spot where they used to bully other students, including myself.

We stood across from each other, staring for a moment.

“Teach him a lesson!” Randy ordered.

“Wait!” I halted them. “Before we start, I am going to give you a chance to apologize for everything you’ve done to me over the past three years.”

“Did you eat something wrong last night? I told you not to misbehave anymore. Beat him up, show no mercy!”

Justin threw a punch at me. With my heightened senses, I could hear the fist moving through the air. I immediately planned a counterattack—to block the punch and twist Justin’s arm. However, I noticed that my speed was still no match for Justin’s. While my sensory and mental processing speeds were enhanced, my motor skills and physical strength remained constant. My push-ups had deceived me. My mind was faster than my body. I kept watching his fist as it moved toward my face, in a moment that seemed to stretch like hours.

As the bullies beat me up, I wondered why I couldn’t land a single blow despite their incredibly slow attacks.

Later that day, I went home and headed straight to my father’s study in the basement to figure out what had gone wrong. I opened another vial and drank the serum. Once again, I felt a heavy weight rushing from my head down to my legs. I nearly passed out but managed to bring myself back to my senses with Randy’s face as my mental reinforcement.

I stretched my muscles and began doing push-ups. It was effortless! I did twenty—my usual maximum—and then continued without fatigue. I reached a hundred, then a thousand. Despite feeling the effort and energy expenditure with each push-up, I was not getting tired.

“Cipher, dinner is ready!” my sister called.

“I’ll eat later!”

I did another thousand push-ups and practiced throwing punches before calling it a day. Even that night, I couldn’t sleep. I thought it was anxiety, but I later figured the insomnia was due to my heightened state. My senses were constantly active. The following day, I went to school early and repeated everything I had done the day before. We arrived at the usual spot.

“Don’t expect the same thing to happen today, jackass!” I provoked Randy, fully convinced that this time would be different.

“You’ve really gone insane, haven’t you? Let me help you fix that brain of yours,” Randy sneered. Enraged, he told his boys to stand aside as he prepared to beat me. Randy—a large, typical school bully known for his mercilessness—was about to be defeated and embarrassed in front of his friends. He began with an uppercut.

As I predicted, the punch was slow. With the second vial, my speed had increased. I blocked Randy’s punch and pushed him away, but I quickly realized I didn’t know how to fight.

Randy’s minions, surprised to see the indestructible Randy stop, anxiously looked at their boss.

Randy threw more punches and kicks, but I managed to deflect them. Suddenly, he stepped back and took off his jacket. Justin and the others jumped back, realizing that Randy was finally about to get serious.

That’s when Randy went into a frenzy. His speed and force dramatically increased—as if he had suddenly transformed into a beast. Despite outpacing him in sensory perception, I was still miles away from matching Randy’s motor speed and accuracy. I blocked some of his punches, but most landed.

The fight continued for twenty minutes until Justin and the others stopped Randy, ending the battle with Randy exhausted and me beaten on the ground.

I had lost again, but I was now certain of one thing: the vials were working.