THE ADVENTURES OF TEKEON

#1. RUMORS: PART ONE

Rumors. Don't you ever get tired of them?

I know I do.

First, the Manager of S.P.E.R.E Sci.Te called it 'an accident'- that a research project was mistakenly let out in the open. He also added, "Who do you even think you are investigating a powerful man like me?"

Pfft. He may be part of those guys with corporate power, but I was the only person in the world with an actual superpower, so-

"Jason," Blitz interrupted my internal monologue again. "Slow down the jetpack. You're going to miss the subway tunnel."

"Oh, right." I willed my sort-of T-shaped jetpack to decelerate.

As I descended through the clouds, my surroundings came into view. A stunning skyline of New Chronos City at night. In this part of town, though, there wasn't much activity.

I touched down on the sidewalk of a barren street. Not a single building in sight for a few hundred meters. As usual, Blitz's sensors were right. Slabbed between the grass on this sidewalk were grates. Those metal frames would have been easier to miss in the thick of night if not for my armor's night vision.

"You sure I can fit in there?"

"X-ray scan it to once again prove my impeccable intellect," Blitz replied. "The dimensions of the vent underneath can easily accommodate you in a crawling position."

An alien fused to my very being, dwarfing me intellectually every day; a Blitz.

Channeling a ton of force into a single stomp, the grates gave in with a rattling noise, revealing a section of a ventilation system.

"I could have done that way cooler if this suit had weapons."

"I've told you before, your armor has- "

"-the capacity to evolve into higher stages, and each stage unlocks a new feature." I sentence-grabbed him. "But so far I've only unlocked non-fighting stuff like jetpack and X-ray. Why is unlocking weapons so hard?"

Entering in a crawling position, I began to advance toward an opening.
"I've informed you previously that the evolution phenomenon exists outside of my control. Just be patient, who knows how many skills you'll unlock in a year's span."

The space was crammed and cold. I still wasn't sure what exactly I was up against, but Blitz's optimism never failed to raise my spirits.

"I wish I could read your thoughts," Blitz said. "Right now, I am puzzled by the upward tug of your lips and the neural signals hinting at excitement."

"Heh," a small laugh escaped me as I continued crawling. It couldn't be helped, I'd never get used to this feeling. "Imagine if I never met you. I'd be binging an old TV series in a stuffy apartment tonight until I sleep off. I'm just grateful that I'd get to have adventures like these instead."

"Your mushiness is reciprocated." Blitz's voice matched my tone. "It's advisable, however, to stay focused when in unknown territory. If not you could-"

"Waugh!" I absentmindedly crawled forward one more time only to realize too late that I had run out of vent, and so I spilled out into the cold, dark, abandoned subway tunnel.

My body collided with a concrete floor but my armor absorbed 80% of the damage, leaving me with a diminutive pain.

"-that." Blitz completed his sentence.

I rolled my eyes before scrambling to my feet. "Point taken."

Using night vision, I scanned the scenery. The train tracks were just beyond the platform I stood on. They stretched out of view, signifying the length of this tunnel. The walls were raw concrete, decked in graffiti, and supported in certain areas with metal beams.

"Good thing this place's abandoned," I said. "Better to square off with a radioactive giant snake in a civilian-free zone."

"I couldn't agree more," Blitz remarked. "And speak of the devil, I'm picking up an unusual amount of radiation nearby. I'm unable to confirm if it's a snake or not at the moment. Triangulating the source, now."

"Thanks, though if the rumors are true, then it's most likely- "

The beam of a flashlight landed on me.

Snakes can't hold flashlights.

Whipping to the origin of the beam, I became face-to-face with a lanky figure wearing a football helmet.