BAMF!

Welcome To My World

The hot and humid air touches my face as I sit on the ledge of a tower,surveying the city of Manila from the top of the local courthouse.From this position,the capital city looks like any other bustling place on Earth,with its unique skyline filled with the combination of modern glass towers and historic abstract buildings and low-level condominiums accompanied by the sound of honking cars,the somehow audible shouts of street vendors complaining about their difficult lives,and the subtle smell of smoke coming from factories that almost overpowers the salty scent of the sea.

Yet no matter how normal this metropolis looks,there is an undeniably surreal aura brought upon by the super powered freaks living in it.Most of the time,those super powered freaks would break the sense of regularity with a fight or two,or an elaborately planned heist,or an assault to the state prison,which then would require an unfortunate stooge to stop them and clean up their mess.

That stooge is me,and that's my job.To,somehow,maintain a degree of normalcy in this absolutely plain city filled with not-quite-plain heroes and villains.

Which is quite unfair,to be honest,seeing as I only got teleporting powers.I mean,you can't expect me to stop an anthropomorphic fireball or a rampaging strong man by suddenly going from one place to another,right?I'm completely under powered by the Aberrations surrounding me,and it amazes me how I've managed to do my job for a year without dying.

Oh,I think I should also mention the fact that I am also an Aberration.

I acquired my extraordinary abilities last year,when I was in sophomore high school.I was chosen by Agham Industries to partake in their -admittedly- promising scientific endeavor which consisted of one hundred people being tested with the company's newly-developed "highly potent" flu vaccine that would last a lifetime,unlike other vaccines that require annual shots.After two weeks,everyone that participated in the testing(everyone that came out alive,that is) found out that they gained super powers.Everyone in the Aberration community calls that fateful day "The Incident".

In retrospect,it was too good to be true and the idea of it sounded like the making of a zombie apocalypse movie.The best course of action would have been politely saying "no" and backing away while sweating nervously,but I was too blinded by the cash offer and I needed to sustain my video game habits.Younger me wasn't really that bright.

And as a result I became a living,breathing freak of nature.A high school student.With teleporting powers.As if being a teenager wasn't enough,I'm also forced to deal with the effects of being more powerful than the general population.It's all too much to handle,really,but when life gives you lemons,you gotta turn it into Kool Aid or something like that.In this case,the lemon represents my unwanted superpowers and the Kool Aid stands for applying said powers for the greater good.

That's what I'm trying to do.Leading a double life to help people.

That's the least that I can do.

Of course,I couldn't have done all of this alone.I'm lucky to have my trustworthy childhood friend and close confidant Karen by my side.

Karen is a computer expert and the information network source for most heroes.She was also affected by "The Incident",and was bestowed with extraordinary eidetic memory as a result.She uses her photographic memory to complement her proficiency with computers,and with her hacking and programming skills she is able to breach the highest security systems.Her cyber-adeptness is rivaled by none.

She is also my go-to intel person.Karen provides me with reliable information by digitally monitoring police radio and surveillance cameras for criminal activity.She also helps me when I'm facing a baddie and saves my ass when I'm in a pinch.Sort of like how The Oracle is to the Batman.

We contact each other via this comms device planted in my ear.It usually vibrates when she's calling me.

Speak of the devil!She's calling me right now.Talk about coincidence,am I right?

I press the earpiece and a husky,sultry voice fills the other end of the line.

"Tedd--"

"Ledgerdemain."

"Why can't I just call you Ted--"

"It's Ledgerdemain.Why do I have to keep reminding you that you need to call me Ledgerdemain?",I complain as I adjust the earpiece.

"Relax,dude.Our conversation is secured.There's no need for you to be paranoid.As long as I'm the captain of this ship,not a single word will come out of our coms line",Karen boasted.

"I know,Ren.But I insist on Ledgerdemain.It sounds cooler."

"Fine,Ledgerdemain",She sighs in exasperation."According to the police intercom,there's an Aberration currently rampaging in Corregidor Island,somewhere in the Wheeler Point area.Witnesses saw the person 'shooting electric tendrils from his hands'."

An electrokinetic?Interesting.

"Can you give me visuals of the place?",I inquire as I stand up and straighten my costume.

"I've sent a link to a live feed of the news.Check your phone."

As if on cue,my phone starts vibrating.I pull the S4 from a well-hidden pocket in my pants and enter the passcode.I click on the notification and it transfers me to a chat board with a livestream broadcast of the news.In the video,a floating humanoid figure can be seen overturning police cars and striking the open field with thunderbolts that emanated from its body.The strike team present seem to be powerless against this person.

"Damn",I muttered as I try to hide the nervousness in my voice."Ren,you think the old hag is open at Saturdays?I think I'll need to get my clothes stitched after I face this guy."

Karen chuckles lightheartedly."Yeah I think so,but she's only open at night",she responds."Just try to bring your suit in one piece,and maybe she'll yell at you less this time."

"Yeah will do."

"Ok,talk to you later dude",and with that the transmission ends.I put my phone back in my pockets,wipe the sweat off my face,and take another look at the fascinating Manila skyline before pulling the black mask down my face.

This city is bananas.I can pretty much vouch for that.It puts me through a lot of work like an entitled boss,and protecting it is probably one of,if not the most,difficult job in existence.But you know what?I get to help people,and that's the only thing that matters.Knowing that makes everything bearable.Like,totes magotes.

With the snap of my fingers,an interdimensional portal appears before me.The familiar draught that drifts out from the desolate gateway touches my face,contrasting the oppresive heat of the city.I step through the portal with anticipation,convincing myself that fixing a broken lightbulb is better than watching reruns of horribly dubbed anime anyway.

-------------------------

Yes!Finally!I kicked my procrastination in the face and convinced myself to actually write this thing down.Just the fact that I've managed to start this book makes me feel happy.I'd like to thank:

1)The people who actually helped me go with this thing.Thank you for enduring the random messages in the middle of the night.

2)To you,my lovely readers.Thanks for actually noticing this book of mine and deciding to take a look.I hope you'll stay with me,cuz I'm gonna make this book awesome.Just get in the car and enjoy the ride.

*currently working on a better cover*

See you next Saturday(hopefully).

PEACE OUT.