The Matters of Power

Chapter 65- The Fate of Marcus Fernandino [3]

First it was exhaustion, now it's excruciating pain. Countless hours of beatings, bruised limbs, and probably a few cracked ribs later I'm back to being held in place by chains on the roof and the ground. It was absolute Hell for the first few times, but I somehow got better at fighting to the point that I managed to land a good hit at his face at the very end until he had to spoil it all by using an injection needle when I couldn't dodge it in time. Dammit. He doesn't even use the elevator to reach this room, I can sense his presence behind me and he's slowly approaching my back. "Boo." He presses a knife to my neck, but I hardly react to the surprise. "Huh. To think you would sense me as soon as your regained consciousness. It shows you are improving, at least." He lets go of me and walks around to where I can see him in front of me. "You say I was unconscious, but shouldn't I have gone into an unconscious fury state if that was the case? Shouldn't I have broken free from these chains and beaten your sorry ass into a pulp?" He doesn't respond immediately to my question as he puts the knife he was using onto the same cheap table holding the other things. He chuckles, "Marcus, have you ever considered how you got into that state in the first place? 'It happens only by fighting people and being unconscious', right? Well, being put to sleep by a sedative won't help your case." Dammit, what a letdown. "It's funny. You have all of these abilities at your disposal and yet you can't utilize them at their best or even know when you can and can't use them. Despite your faults and mistakes though, I still haven't given up on you, Marcus. I haven't given up on Pot, so I'm not about to cut you out just because of some setbacks." "Pot- Portleo. What's so special about him anyway? After all my times I met him, he doesn't seem to possess any supernatural abilities like mine... or Quarter's... or Guadaro..." 

I don't even bother finishing my sentence as my mind feels like shutting down. "He's... a special case. He was just your average delinquent, not much different than the usual rabble that infests schools." He pulls a chair that was by the side of the wall towards him using his powers, then sits down facing me. "Normally, I wouldn't want to associate with such worms to society, but there was something about him that caught my attention: his surprising levels of cunning and his inability to able to inherit my powers. While Guadaro was... still my disciple, I had sought to improve business prospects in Austin, and I just so happened to encounter him with his little gang of his, acting as if he were operating a company with such intricacy. Naturally, I was curious about him but it didn't take long for me to meet as he had the gall back then to approach me himself, talking big about his achievements, but of course I put him in his place, with my boot on his head planted on the ground." He seems... happy reminiscing about this past. "Using Psychometry, I figured out about his past pretty quickly. Turns out, he was the leader of a delinquent group of massive proportions, something equivalent to something of a gang's dealings, but diluted with a heavy metric of bullying. And get this: he did out of this to help his family! So of course, I gave him a chance to leave the life of a delinquent and the road to a corporate worker after he graduated from high school, and he's been loyal to me ever since. As for the inability to not able to inherit any of my powers... it's quite confusing but the short version is that something in his character just refuses to allow anything supernatural to give him, and I found through searching that plenty of other people aren't able to inherit this power. Consider yourself fortunate that you could wield at least psychic powers." 

Even as he dumped Pot's backstory, something about his character sounds so familiar, but it's nearly impossible to find out. Unless, "Mr. Corvanez," I manage to puff out my words in a slight wheeze, "tell me, did Pot have a nickname back in Austin? Something associated with his delinquent group?" He obviously looks surprised by my questions. "Nickname? Odd thing to ask. Hmm... ah, yeah, that reminds me, he did say that he had a nickname that supposedly struck fear to many of his peers. It was 'The Young Monster'. Why?" That name. That was the name I feared back then, back in Austin. Those bullies would often spout that nickname almost as if it was a deterrent from me reporting them, but it was no more of a buzzword to them. That nickname was associated with the delinquent group that bullied me and countless others, and even though Pot had graduated long after I was in middle or high school, the fact that he was the catalyst for all of my suffering and nightmares just feels... it... "You bastard!" I shout at the top of my lungs, consequences be damned! "You sonofabitch, Pot! You monster! Look at what you made! When I get my hands on you, I'll make sure you-urrgh!" Mr. Corvanez grabs a hold of my throat and stops me from shouting. "Calm down, kid. What happened in the past, happened. Leave it alone, you got better things to do." "Arrgh, you're- you're one to talk! Telling me about forgiveness when you're using high schoolers in this whole revenge plot against someone who left your sorry ass, for good rea-bleurrgh!" He's tightening his grip on my neck, his pressure is gonna kill me first if the lack of oxygen doesn't. He has eyes of bloodlust, he's gonna kill me, I know it! "We're gonna go on a trip, you and I." He raises his other hand and places mere inches above the hair above my head. "You'll see just how much your suffering is compared to mine. Psychometry for the first time is a bitch, ain't it!" He grasps the top of my head and I feel this immense pressure and heat come from his hand as my vision blurs away and all I see white around me. Dear God, what Hell is he putting me through!?