The Fallen God

Super Powers?

My eyes snapped open and I screamed as I sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat. I looked down at my hands and clenched them into fists. Remembering what I had dreamed about was easy. The entire dream had been about me controlling matter in every perceivable way. The major reason this had descended into a nightmare of sought is that I had begun killing people and I had liked it. I gingerly moved my fingers to come into contact with my alarm clock and as the pads of my fingers brushed against the glass I exhaled in relief. The time on the clock was 5:58. 2 minutes before I had to get up. I slid out of bed and gathered the things I needed for school. My blazer was hanging neatly on a hanger over my wardrobe. My black tie, with the school logo embellished on the lower blade of the tie, was hanging on the hanger that held my blazer. My white shirt was neatly folded on the chair with a pair of trousers carefully draped over the back of the chair. It didn't take long to get into the trousers and begin to do up the buttons on the shirt when the alarm clock started buzzing. I tapped the off button with my foot as I did up the last two buttons of my shirt and balanced on one foot.

After I had finished getting ready I picked up my blue rucksack and walked out of my room. Almost immediately, I slipped on one of my brother's penny boards and caught myself on the door handle just before I hit the floor. I kicked the skateboard down the corridor and walked along after it towards the staircase. My families apartment was in the shard, The tallest building in the UK. We had this apartment modified for the children of my siblings and I but it still maintained the famous view of the London skyline. My family ran Anderson Pharmaceuticals. A company that was worth close to a billion pounds sterling at the time. Because of this, we were never short of money. I trudged down the glass sided floating wooden stairs. Nobody else was awake yet so I switched on the TV and the news came on. The report was on the last deep pit coal mines closing. I watched for a few seconds then slid some bread in the toaster and went to get a butter knife out of the draw. The moment my hand touched the stainless steel of the butter knife, a feeling akin to an electric shock passed up my arm. I withdrew my hand as fast as my muscles would allow.

When I peeked into the draw all the cutlery was black. I reached out tentatively and brushed my fingers against the knives. When I looked at my fingers a fine black powder like soot coated them. I picked up a fork and snapped it in one hand. "This is like charcoal." I thought to myself as I threw the broken fork in the bin and washed my hands to get off the soot. I grabbed my toast as it popped out of the toaster and ate it quickly as the clock ticked to half past 6. I left with a half a slice of toast in my mouth and my bag slung on my back as I stepped into the lift. I nodded to the receptionist as I was finishing my toast and the Doorman pushed open the glass doors and smiled at me as I left to head to the bus stop.

The bus pulled up at the stop and I jumped up and landed the metal step. The bus was a brand new route master with many booths and comfortable seats. The ride was uneventful as there were few people on my route. The walk to form was also quiet and the gentle hum of conversation in form was a welcome change. I walked over to Charlie who was sitting in the back corner in our usual seats.

"Salutations Charlie." I greeted the slightly chubby boy with a mop of black curly hair. He chuckled at my vernacular.

"We may go to a private school and our parents might make a whole tonne of money, but I've never heard you use that level of ponce in one sentence before." He said whilst pulling my chair out and motioning for me to sit.

"I thought I'd have some fun," I responded whilst sitting down. We kept chatting and laughing until the boy in front pushed his chair back and into our table which sent it flying into mine and Charlie's abdomens. We both got instantly winded and our own chairs toppled over forcing us to the ground. "SHUT UP!" The boy who had pushed the table shouted. "All I could hear was you yammering in my ear, It's fucking annoying." He spat then sat back down and returned to his pile of prep work. Rage bubbled through me, explosions went off in my mind and I jumped to my feet and pushed the table back at him.

There was a creaking sound. The table suddenly felt very cold and brittle. The same shock from before spread through my palms. Suddenly the table gave way and splintered, losing all structure. I tumbled forwards and collided with the utterly stunned boy. He pushed me back and I retreated to my back foot and readied a stance. My years of karate had paid off. He lunged forwards with a punch and I countered by sidestepping his punch and driving my elbow into his face I wanted to cause damage. As I did this the same electrical tingle spread through my elbow and as it swung into his face it felt much heavier and had no give so it hit harder, much harder. The blow knocked the boy out cold and broke his nose. Blood streamed from his nostrils and made its way to the ground.

I looked at my elbow and beneath the fabric, a glint of metal caught my eye. Beneath my blazer, my shirt had hardened into a half centimetre thick plate of metal that clung to my skin and moved with me. Shots of panic went through my mind. I wanted it gone and as quickly as it had formed the metal disappeared with the same tingle.

Everybody in the class was staring at me as I stood over the unconscious form of the boy. Even Charlie had a horrified look on his face. Nothing moved for what seemed like an eternity until the door to the classroom swung open and the teacher, Dr Cambell, stepped in and dropped the papers he was carrying.

"John Anderson. Principles office. Now." He said furiously. I walked just in front of him all the way to the office. During the entire walk, Dr Cambell was constantly on the radio talking to other teachers. He sat me down outside the office and went inside to talk to the principle. A few minutes later he opened the door and called me in. The Principle was a tall slender woman with her black hair tied back in a tight high ponytail that reached her middle back. She wore dainty reading glasses that balanced on the edge of her bony nose. She wore a functional blue suit and a black tie.

The principle had taken into account that it was the boy who started the fight. So the fact that I had not thrown the first punch meant that the move was technically in self-defence. In the end, I got given 2 days in the exclusion room and the boy got 1 day. I had to sit in a cubicle during my time in exclusion. This gave me time to think about what had happened. At first, I tried to run the events through in my mind. I remembered the shocks I had felt at every instance of the phenomena occurring. I focused on the feeling and attempted to force myself to feel it again but after 2 hours of trying I had got nowhere. So instead I thought about what had been running through my mind at the time. Then I realised at each point I had either had a particular element in my mind, an effect to be applied or a purpose to fulfil.

I picked up my pencil, closed my eyes and held the atom arrangement of graphite in my mind along with the electronic structure of carbon. I focused into the wood and willed it to change into graphite. The tingling sensation came slowly and much less like an electric shock, more like a soothing heat. I opened my eyes after sensation had dulled but not gone. The pencil had kept its black and yellow paint but was now entirely composed of pencil lead. I then thought about it atomising. Before my eyes, the sensation came again and the pencil dissolved into an infinitely fine powder that arced around my arm. I began to panic as the sensation spread up my arm. The powder hit my skin through my clothes, passing through them as if they were nothing. I felt the atoms inside my body, the feeling wasn't unpleasant but was more like the sensation. Beads of sweat gathered on my brow as I thought about what had just happened.