Jay Ess: An Unordinary Hero

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Every day our most simple and innocuous of actions set into motion a myriad of inevitable interactions. Sometimes these interactions are immediate. A perfect example of this is when you leave for work in the morning and leave your house either a minute sooner or later than normal and you get into an accident. Even though it seemed to be little more than a simple change to your routine, had you left at the exact same time you would have avoided this accident. There are also interactions that are delayed. My temper tantrum that caused me to throw a car through our neighbor's house was one such example of a delayed interaction event. Because of that one act, though it was neither simple nor innocuous, had led me to interact with Achak and Calla and was also the catalyst that began an interstellar war.

I was also subject to immediate interactions, such as the one that transpired the next morning. My catching the blow meant for my head the previous day had sent events into motion that I could not foresee or avoid. The morning started off normal enough. I awoke at the usual time, brushed my teeth, got dressed and ate a bowl of some sugar infused cereal. I left my house at the same time that I did every day and met Brayden as he was walking past our driveway. It was not until we were halfway down the street that I noticed something was off this day.

We were always the third and fourth people to arrive at the end of the road to await the bus. This morning I could clearly see that there three people down there and what looked like some sort of confrontation. Brayden and I exchanged looks and broke into a run. We arrived at the end of the road to find that the extra person was none other than Mike Ashline.

The first two kids to arrive every day were the Zale twins, Tommy and Tina. They lived in the first house on the road and were therefore closest to the bus stop. Being fraternal twins they bore no striking similarities besides those that are shared by all siblings. They were both nine and in between Mike and me in age. They had jet black hair with pasty white skin. Tina had bright green eyes while Tommy's were a rich hazel color.

Mike, ever the pompous bully had shown up to confront me and decided to victimize the twins in my stead. He had shoved Tommy to the ground and had delivered several kicks to his ribs when Brayden and I got there. Mike's face lit up with excitement when he saw me.

"I don't know how you did that yesterday, but you are dead!" Mike spat out these words as much as he said them. It also seemed that his low IQ could not come up with a more original threat that that of death.

I knew that this would represent my first real fight, and it would be one that required me to use my powers, though in a limited capacity. I knew that I could probably kill him and that would rid him from my life and the lives of anyone else that he would bully in the future, but that was not what being a hero was about. The comic books taught me a lot about being a hero, but the one thing that they hammered home above all else was that dealing death was always a last resort. I knew at that moment Jay Ess would step into the world and humiliate Mike to the point where no one would fear him.

My mind was racing with how I could defeat him and keep the twins from seeing any use of my powers. Mike was coming towards me with his fists raised in a fighting position, so I did not have a lot of time to decide what the best course of action would be. I knew I could touch minds and alter memories, so as his first strike was coming at my head, a powerful roundhouse, I knew that I would freely use my powers and then alter Tommy and Tina's memories of the event.

I was thankful that Achak had decided to work with me on my super speed last night. I easily dodged Mike's blow by ducking under it and spinning around so that I ended up behind him. Before he had even realized that I had moved from in front of him I planted a solid shove to the middle of his back. I did not use enhanced strength for this because that was not a skill I had worked on mastering yet but it still sent him stumbling forward.