The Library of Powers

Chapter 12- part 6

The short girl with the short hair was staring bullets at the man who had accosted them. Which was ironic, because as previously stated, he was the one with the gun.

That short girl, Ivory, came up with a game plan before the strange boy, Jackson, was able to even react to their predicament. "You know who we are, so I'm assuming you have some sort of reconnaissance power," she guessed, "What do you want? Us to let you steal the Reset Button without stopping you?"

Guy Harding leaned against the pedestal that once held the button, spinning said button in his free hand. "Nah. I could've done that without you two even knowing. And better yet," he put the reset button in one of the pockets on his jacket. From that same pocket he drew an identical button, which he placed back onto the pedestal, "No one would ever even know that I was here."

"Why are you here then?" It was Jackson this time that spoke up. Jackson remembered that this man was Melanie's uncle, but wasn't going to bring that up quite yet. It might prove more useful if things got tenser.

He shook the button in response. "Duh."

"That didn't answer his question," Ivory prodded.

"I wanted to chat first. Oh, and before I forget," he reached into his pocket once more and pulled out a silver stopwatch. "This was giving me way too much trouble. Here you go." He tossed it to Jackson, who upon catching it, noticed it was vigorously buzzing.

"How did..." Jackson trailed off. Guy seemed to know everything about him, things he had only told a few people, things that were as new as tonight. How was he able to do it?

"How?" Ivory asked, mirroring Jackson's confusion.

"There's always a better power, Ivory. Unfortunately for you, mine is the better one," He slipped the gun into a holster hidden under his jacket, now unarmed. "By this point you won't attack me. I'll be leaving soon, but I'll answer a few questions first. No need to ask, I know what they are."

Ivory's brow furled further. Jackson shrunk behind her. Somehow being unarmed made him all the more intimidating.

"First off, no. I'm not a telepath. Yes, I know everything about you. Yeah, Jackson, I'm Melanie's uncle. That's partially why I put so much effort into understanding you two. No, I'm not omnipotent. Yes, I'll press the button if something dire enough occurs. But I need to press the button soon, for something Mayor Winter won't. No one will even notice it's been pressed. No, I won't tell anyone your little secrets. They'll make good blackmail. You two will probably make fine superheroes someday. Keep at it, go get degrees. They can be useful, you know. Pick your battles wisely, you do not want to be in over your head for the first one, any win is better than a close loss. And also-"

Ivory cut him off. "Wait, has this turned into a pep talk? You're robbing us!"

Guy chuckled and gave a warped smile. "I guess I've just come to like you two. Also, I'm robbing the government, not you. Neither means I won't pummel you if you get caught in my business."

"We don't have any intention to, don't worry," Jackson told him.

"You might be surprised, with the way things are going. You haven't met Phoebe yet, right?"

Shivers went down Jackson's spine, goosebumps ran up his arm. He had tried so hard to not think about it. To not think about the villain running loose in The Library. What did Guy Harding know about her? Why did he know she was connected to him? Why did he know anything?

"I'll take your silence as a no. Go seek her out. She won't bite," Guy looked at them, as they gave him incredulous stares, "Won't bite you, at least. Anyways, this has been fun." He pulled his gun back out of his jacket and held it in his hands for a long moment. After what seemed like a lifetime, he put his back in its holster. "Nah, this went well enough," he said. Jackson didn't really think he was talking to them.

Without another word, he walked out.