Immune (NaNoWriMo2014)(Wattys 2014)

10) First Second and Third World Problems (Part 2)

A hot breath, from behind his neck.

A step closer, from the right.

A hesitation, on his left.

It was almost like closing his eyes gave him better sight than, well, seeing. Body movenemt was a telltale sign, something that couldn't lie to him. He could sense who was closer, who was farther. Who was brave enough to make a move, who was smart enough to wait.

It was a skill that wasn't unique to him, not by any means. Everybody had it. The feeling one get when somebody is watching them. The unnerving sensation received when one walks on a fuzzy carpet. The tinging when somebody is inches from touching you.

That was what he was using. True, it was amplified for him, but it wasn't unique. Something that might work just a little better would be thermal vision, but Nathan didn't have that. Mother probably did, but not him.

It was thanks to this that Nathan successfully blocked the first hit. It came from directly behind him. Somebody launched their fist at him, and when he was sure it wasn't a bluff, he pivoted. Opening his eyes, he batted the fist to the side, causing the bigger boy to stumble, off balance. Nathan stuck his foot out and pivoted again, catching the boy in his stomach and sending him sprawling.

That opened the floodgates. The boys all dove in, and Nathan could only see one way of avoiding the situation, and leaving his identity a secret. Other than bending time to wipe minds, but that led to a whole new host of problems. For example, why they were all bruised and battered, and he just appeared out of thin air.

He pulled his fist down, and in an diagonal arc, swung around to hit the boy behind him. The fist was going for his stomach, and at this force, would likely only wind him for a few seconds.

Centimeters away from making contact, Nathan froze time. It was easier to do now that Father had left Kiyan's Altar alone, but he got lightheaded and a bit nauseous nonetheless. Messing with time was a delicate thing, meant to be done slowly. His instantaneous use of it was like exhaling at full force for a minute strait.

Nathan waited for the sensation to subside before continuing. He even gave himself what would be two or three minutes of resting before he continued. This would take a lot of focus. It was quite tricky.

He hadn't move a muscle in all that out - of - time. What he needed to do required him to stay in that same position. He could see Suzy's face at this angle, her face a mixture of fear and anger. It ironically suited her features. He supposed she was kind of cute, for a human.

What did that even mean? Nathan himself didn't know. It wasn't like he met many non - human girls, other than Mother and that thing she called a mercenary. Grimalkin, if he recalled correctly.

You can worry about pretty girls later, Nathan. Focus.

He could feel the strength of the blow he was going to land, struggling against the constraints of time. Concentrating on that, he took a 'snapshot' of the energy in his mind, then he reached into his father's side. He froze that 'snapshot' in time.

Now here came the really confusing part. Here, he either did it perfectly or he'd have to start again. Maybe even lose the 'snapshot' altogether. He rewound time in his arm, not on the action or position, but the force. The kinetic energy moving his arm anywhere. The strength in his arm dissapeared, but the 'snapshot' was still his.

Then, he fast forwarded the energy, moving it back into his arm. It merged with the 'snapshot', doubling the force of his hit. Now, he might even cause this guy to stumble back a little as he hit him.

He took a 'snapshot' of that, and rewound the energy. he merged the force again and again, until he was almost satisfied with the force of the punch. He was going to try it one last time, when inexplicably, Suzy's face snuck back into the forefront of his mind.

I still have to tha- damnit!

The energy he had gained was lost. Thankfully, he still had the origional 'snapshot' and all the time in the world to make up for it.

All that bullshit can wait. We have problems to deal with.

It was tempting, oh so tempting, to just grab the staff, get the heck out of there, and let them figure out what happened. But he had to do this the right way. Mother would be even more pissed if he revealed himself to a bunch of college shmucks. Especially if one of them was as interesting as Suzy.

What? The actual fuck did I just... oh. Alright. A crush I can deal with.

A stupid crush was something that Nathan could handle. It was as simple as pushing it out of the forefront of his mind and into the right place. He had his fair share, but none of them could get the best of him.

Acknowledging the fact, he began his cycle again. This time, he got through without a single hitch. He was satisfied with the amount of force he was using. If he had accounted for their size differences accurately, it should go over pretty well.

Time in.

Nathan let go of time, and momentum carried his body into the big guy. The boy doubled over onto Nathan's fist, and Nathan plowed him over like a freight train. He rushed out a foot or so, the boy still attached to his limb, and slammed the guy to the ground.

He dodged the crowd of boys, and now that they were more spaced out, Nathan had the advantage. The first one to reach him was a gangly boy around Nathan's height. He roundhouse kicked him, knocking him and two other boys to the dirt in a mass of limbs.

"Stop it! Why the hell did I get myself into this mess?" Suzy hollered from somewhere to his right. Nathan ignored her, dashing past a few hands to his staff. The boy who had it earlier was cradling it now, and as Nathan approached, he brandished it awkwardly. That was still enough to deter Nathan from getting any closer. This kid may not know what it was, but that still wouldn't stop the tool from reacting. And if the staff changed it's affinity in the boy's possession, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

"Listen," he said, sliding closer. "All I wan't is my -" he kicked the staff up just as the boy swung it at him. The result was the boy got hit by a large, blunt object, knocking him out senseless. That wasn't before said blunt object shot a silvery black beam strait into the air, lighting up the night like a beacon.

Nathan stared only for a moment before whiping his head around. The remaining guys were running towards Nathan, oblivious to the bright glow emanating against the pitch black sky. It was directly in their line of sight, too. Nathan sighed in relif. Did that mean humans couldn't see it?

If that was the case, why was Suzy staring right at it as it ascended?

Okay, seeing MajaDiana get like 10k words done in a day through smaller updates is causing me to want to experiment. Let me try that.

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