Encounter

„Chirp-chirp! Chirp-chirp!”

The sound of birds woke me up from my deep slumber. Right after waking up I heard a voice:

„But what if he lost his mind? There’s no remedy for that! What do I do? What do I do?”

Opening my eyes I could see Akira standing on a chair next to me. I was laying on a bed in a white room. To my left, there was a flower pot with a label that read „Get well soon”. Other than that, the room was pretty empty. It was like a hospital room but without the necessary equipment.

Looking back to Akira I could hear him say:

„Oh my god, he woke up! Can he hear me? Can he see me? What should I say? What should I do? This is scary!”

But his mouth was not moving. Not at all.It was just the same as before, so then I realized. I could hear what he’s thinking. It seems like this is the power I got from this experiment. But then I wondered: Shouldn’t I be able to control it? Isn’t it weird that I can hear his thoughts without having any intention of doing so? That was the exact same moment I stopped hearing Akira. Did he stop thinking? No, that would not be possible, people think continuously throughout their lives, even in sleep. There’s no way he just stopped thinking, that meaning that it worked. I could control it after all!

„’Sup, kiddo? Had a nice sleep? Ready to kick some villain butts?” asked Akira.

This time his mouth was moving. He spoke to me.

For some time I just sat there in silence looking at him and trying to get a grip on reality, as all this was way too surreal. I could notice Akira getting awkward and worried, but that was not my priority at the moment.

„Hey kid, are you okay? Can you hear me? Come on, say something!”

It was clear that he was getting worried. Out of concern for him and after I realized he might get a panic attack, I answered:

„Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t know if I can get out of bed, much less if I can ‚kick villain butt’ but I am fine for the moment”

Akira’s eyes began to shine brightly as he heard me talk, just bright enough for me to realize he was hyperventilating.

„So? What happened? Are you okay? Are you stable? What happened when you got out of the machine? Did you find your power? Are you sure you’re okay? Can you double-check? Ar-„

„I’m fine. I just think my power was too overwhelming for me to handle it at that very moment, that’s why I blacked out”

I clearly wasn’t going to tell him that I could hear his every word when he was in that state. He would find out eventually. Maybe...

„Okay, okay. I’m calming down. Let me go get Ken, he told me to call him when you wake up. Stay right here.”

I nodded my head and Akira left. It was pretty clear I wasn’t going to stay there. I could move and the last thing I wanted to do is wait like a vegetable there. I wondered if I could really control this power and how this would affect my life. Is it really good to have this sort of power? There are some things that should stay in people's brains. Sometimes what we think is not what we mean, this being the reason we are always told to think twice before saying something. And just how could I defeat villains with this power? I can already imagine some walking flame man that can spit fire burning me down. What am I going to do, even if I know what he wants to do? This doesn’t help, right?

„I can’t keep thinking about this, I need some air.” I thought. So I stood on my feet and went for the door. Opening it revealed a huge hall with many doors similar to this one. What surprised me though was that a few seconds after I opened the door, a door to my right opened as well, just to reveal a teenager with bright pink hair, ripped clothes and earrings. Saying that his hairstyle was unusual is a small statement to describe it. He had his whole hair grouped in three big spikes that stood pointing up. It was pretty amazing how he could pull off that sort of haircut. He was looking at me just as surprised as I was looking at him. At that second I thought: „Maybe my power is not as bad as I thought, let’s see what he’s thinking”. This was maybe the best decision I made. After concentrating for a second I could feel my brain expanding, somehow opening to the exterior, letting his thoughts come in.

„Don’t need to call the others. He looks weak, I’ll take him out in one hit”

That rang a bell in my head. He was going to attack me, and it was pretty clear I had no time to talk and calm him down. „What do I do? How can I defend myself? What if he has some sort of power? I can’t die here, not yet.”

This determination allowed my brain to expand even further. Even though it was hurting, I could sense my powers getting even stronger, taking over my brain completely.

„Hit, head, left.”

That was his voice! That’s it, I have to dodge to the right. In the next moment, just as I moved to the right as fast as I could, I saw him raising his hand and shooting what seemed to be an icicle. What was weird was that he shot the icicle with a curve, coming from the left. If I hadn’t dodged that icicle would’ve penetrated my head, going from the left side of it to the right. Dodging to the right barely helped me stay alive, as the icicle scratched my head, leaving a trail of blood on my left cheek. I realized as well that dodging to the right was not a good decision, I should have dodged to the left or go back a step. I didn’t have enough information, I needed to concentrate even more. And that is exactly what I did.

„I missed. Impossible! Is he awakened as well? No matter, this all ends now!”

As he thought that I knew the next attack was going to be even stronger. I had to think.

„Concentrate, Yoshiki. What is he going to do?” I thought to myself. In that exact moment, an image popped into my head.

Suddenly I was seeing myself. Connecting the view to my knowledge about the place I realized that I was looking through his eyes. Looking through his eyes I saw him raise both his hands and create ten icicles out of nowhere and shooting them to me. There was no escape, they were meant to block any exit I had. Then I saw it. These icicles were going at a fast pace, but I was staying in the door. I had a chance!

Going back into my body I saw him raise his hands. With a speed abnormal for me I stepped back and shut the door. Right after I did that I could hear all the icicles hit the door. I had to do something, if I kept going like this, he would eventually kill me. Adrenaline kicked in.

„I have to attack right now!” I thought to myself.

I opened the door and rushed to him with a clenched fist.

„Fool. Ice shield.” I heard him think. He was prepared for me to punch him in the face, so I decided to take another route. As I got close enough to him I saw him raise a hand and protect his head with a shield made of ice, but I wasn’t going for a punch in the face anymore. I slipped right past him, stopping with a foot in the ground as soon as I got behind him and throwing a heavy punch in his back. Little known to most people, a good hit in the back can neutralize even the toughest enemies.

„ARRRRGH!!!”

He screamed before falling to the ground.

„I AM GOING TO OBLITERATE HIM! Just wait until I get back up, you’ll get it!

I didn’t think I could withstand another attack, so I decided to run for it instead. The door at the end of the hall was looking like the elevator, so I started running towards it. I got there before he could rise back up, but before I could open the door I heard him again.

„Straight through the head. Dodge this, punk!”

Using my instincts I crouched, barely dodging five icicles going straight to my head. I reached for the button, but before I could push it the doors of the elevator opened up on their own, revealing an imposing figure, it was Ken. After scanning the room for a second or two he looked toward the pink haired guy. He was stunned to see Ken, just like me.

„Nascar, that’s enough. He’s not an enemy.”

After that, he looked at me.

„Weren’t you told to not leave your room? I came as fast as I could and you already left?”

Before I could answer I heard something briefly.

„-eadshot!”

Oh no! I was careless. Nascar wasn’t done. After hearing that I turned my head in his direction, just to see an icicle heading straight for my eyes. It was a few meters from me already, it was too late to dodge it now.

„I’m going to die”, I thought with fear and anguish.

Soothing darkness, I’m coming back to you.