2025-01-06 01:30:58"... Do you even know how to skate? You just sit down here---"
"Shut the hell up, Karl!" Jacq grunted back mindlessly. His whole being was concentrated on the wide screen television. If you didn't look well, you won't know he has a game pad in hand. Tap, tap, tap... Jacq pressed the game pad furiously while he stared without blinking at the screen. He has a look of terror and anger on his face, yet he looked happy. He's at the last stage of the game and he is not ready to let his concentration falter because of his friend, Karl. "You see, your life sucks. You just hide in here, living and basking in your fantasies. These doesn't matter when---" "Fuck!! Damn you, Karl!" Jacq lost the game... He rose on his feet, cursing. "... Damn you, I repeat. I invite you to my house and you know nothing than to fuck my shit up. Can't you just wait a minute? I was at the last level. I was about to kill the boss. I was..." "I didn't realize that, I'm sorry." Karl threw a sunken face full of mocking regret. He hates to get on Jacq's nerve but he never controls himself not to do that. "Here he goes, 'I'm sorry... Blah blah.'" Jacq stormed into his kitchen and emerged with a pack of crackers to munch. Karl stood up to meet him. He snatched it from Jacq and made away with it across the room. "Hmm... You didn't tell me you still have one of these." Karl mumbled through a mouth full of crackers. "Careful now, I didn't say you can eat those. Give it back." Jacq warned but he made no move to reclaim his snack. "Vuu havv no ighea gow cweet gis icc..." "Shut up, Karl." He sat down and searched for the remote. "Tell me what you were bothering me about. Tell me. I wasn't listening." Karl who realized Jacq's anger has subsided walked to the center of the room, crackers and all. "I knew you weren't listening. So, I'll start again. A group of boys new to this part of the city formed a group of---" "Ugh, Karl. A group of boys formed a group... What the hell are you talking about?" Jacq laughed for the first time that afternoon. "Shhh... So, a group of boys formed a group of team called an organization that involved a gathering---" Jacq rose at an odd breaking speed and lunged at his friend. He has seen that move in a WWE wrestling match. The move is called The Spear and it is mostly done by Roman Reigns, his favourite wrestler. He caught Karl mid air and shouldered him across the room into the sofa opposite him. They landed with a soft thud. Karl under, Jacq on top. "Don't mess with 'Jacq Reigns' again, or I will spear you to oblivion." He huffed as he said the already practiced punch line. Karl laughed hard despite the unbearable weight sitting on him. He raised his free hand and tickled Jacq. Jacq rolled off onto the ground and they both shared a good laugh. They had been friends right from the first day at Middle school. Jacq had been lonely on the first day and has lost his way to the cafeteria. A shy kid who knows little about the outside world. Well, as the story always go, little Karl appeared and showed him around. They shared a table at lunch and there they started. Jacq was seven when his dad relocated to America for business purpose. A year later, a reunion was arranged and he and his mom left France to join his father in the States. His Dad, Albert is an American, while his mom, Diana is French. Hence the reason for his French name, Jacques. They settled in Boston, the largest city in Massachusetts. The modern and technological feel of Boston went well with Jacq and in no time, he started feeling at ease with the city as he grows older. He took great joy in staying indoors, though and he never jokes with his game time. So, he makes no friends apart from Karl and he shows no concern over the affairs of others. He was 11 years of age when his Mom called from a hospital that Daddy won't be coming home... Again. Apparently, he had an accident at work that took his life. After the company's insurance covered the Death benefits and other expenses, the burial rites were performed. Only then did Jacq realize how much he missed his father. Jacq's life took downward route. The social life he was managing to build went out the window. He never steps out of his room. He seldom talk to his mother too. Karl, the only one reaching out to Jacq managed to control extreme situations in Jacq's life and in a space of one to two years, things went back to normal and Jacq went back to his old self – playing games and cursing. His happy old self. ****************************************** Now, they are in high school, living far from their original homes, happy and still friends. Karl grew to be a funny one while Jacq is there all with his wits and wisdom. Though, Karl's funny nature have started rubbing off Jacq. He can now make little jokes unlike before. "... All I'm saying is you are a nerd. A gamer nerd, if you wish." Karl proclaimed as if in charge of some judgement authority. "I'm no nerd. I can do stuffs too, yunno." Jacq countered. Karl rolled his eyes. "What stuffs? Read 10 novels in 10 minutes? Kill the hardest boss in 'God Hand'?" "C'mon, shut up. Killing Azel, the God of destruction is not child's play, and that's not being nerd." Jacq protested. "There he goes." Karl gave up. "I win." "You win nothing. I asked the other time, can you skate? You can't, you see? Half of the boys in Boston can skate, and the other half will know how to before next summer. See? He threw out his tongue mockingly. "I can skate. Duh. Just kick on the damn floor and balance your body properly. It's no hard work." "No, you can't. You can only skate in your games. That one you play... Tony..." Karl hung mid words trying to remember. "Tony Hawk's pro skater." He sighed. "It was released 1999 and remade in 2012 when---" "Shut up, Jacq" he rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is you can't skate in person. A game is not the real world." Jacq stood up. He straightened his shirt and smoothed his tangled hair. "Let's wager. We will go to the park now and I will skate right in your ugly face!" "Uh oh. Right, let's wager. If you impress me, I do the next two laundry, ugh. And if you fail, you have to talk to that new Cassie girl." "Hahaha... Wait. Hell no." "What? You scared? It's a win-win though. You win, I do the laundry. You lose, you still win a girl." Karl winked. "Talking to Cassie isn't a win, dumbass," disagreed, Jacq. "I care not. Let's go to the park. Someone's about to woo a girl for the first time." Karl danced a jiggy. "I won't, you'll see. I will skate. Let's go." Jacq smoothed his hair one last time. "A win-win..." Karl sang as they opened the door to step out. "It's no win if I skate badly." Jacq protested again. "It is..." "It's not..." "Jacq, the other time you said I was ugly. We're you joking?" "I was not." "Hell no." "You are ugly, stupid." They are outside treading the walkway. "Cassiieee..." "Shut up!"
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...They made their way out into the long corridors from earlier, running and panting at the same time.Cassie being a superhuman ran at a faster pace while Jacq tagged along behind her, slowing them down.They needed to reach the spot where the portal transported them to when they arrived. The portal can only be activated at that spot, but it's still a long way before they will get there. Not with Jacq's slow human pace.Yes, they had blinded her father so he wouldn't know where they went. But, it is only a matter of time before the soldiers begin the chase. They are probably on the chase now.Cassie clicked a button on her wrist as she ran. A hologram popped out showing the building plan of the lair and the best possible route to take to reach the portal on time. Cassie spotted a shortcut a minutes run to her left."Hurry up, Jacq! The next turning by the left! Be quick," she shouted while running without gasping much for breath.Jacq managed to quicken his pace a little at the expe
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"... I mean, can't we just disconnect it and shut down this stupid lair," Jacq paced back and forth as he said that.Cassie disagreed..."No, we can't. We should not. The lair will crumble to dust if we so much as touch it. And we can't remove it. The orb has a mind of its own, have you noticed?" She paced restlessly too."But you said you know what to do... Forgotten?" Jacq fired at her.Cassie sat down for a while, trying to gather her wits together. She knew what to do. She has the plan all ready in her head. But..."It could be dangerous," she said softly to Jacq. "It could be dangerous," she repeated.Her first plan was to run up the wall with her superhuman speed and strength, and disconnect the orb like Jacq said. But, the whole lair would shut down and it could mean the death of everyone inside. The two of them included.Her second plan was to channel the energy from the orb to a maximum level, in the direction of the door to eliminate the incoming soldiers.That could prove d
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Activating the radar detector ability that he copied from Tade, the tunnel suddenly turned a greenish shade before his eyes. Each turning in the tunnel opened up easily to him as his mind traveled far before him.Everything stopped moving when he sensed the presence in the tunnel. Two men and a woman, it seemed, he couldn't be sure since this is the first time Jacq is using this ability but these people sure didn't number more than three.In the muscular hand of one of the men was the Mutant detector device that Stranger told him about. It flashed red light against the green vision that Jacq was seeing.The three figures appeared as a light yellow colour against the green environment that Jacq was seeing for easy detection of people and movement. Jacq could see that they were moving restlessly from foot to foot as they discussed, one of the men was gesticulating wildly.The man holding the device turned immediately to Jacq's line of vision as if he knew that someone was watching them
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[The tunnel is free. Enjoy your stroll] a notification popped.Jacq gave a soft chuckle that attracted a raised eyebrow from the kid. He looked down at the boy, his smile getting broader and he managed a wink. Then Jacq remembered that he didn't know the boy's name. Olatunde never told him."Hey, what is your name?" Jacq asked.Of course, the boy remained silent.[Scanning...][Name: Tade Adeola][Age: 12][Form: Mutant][Skill: Spy]Jacq was instantly amazed at this new development he's experiencing. He never knew the system could do something like this. Now, he doesn't have to ask for people's name and status before he knows them. The system can do any research work for him anytime.A tiny voice said in his head, [you will need to settle down to discover all I can do]Ugh, if only this system can send notifications alone and stop speaking in my head... Jacq thought.[I can do that too, if you want]Yes, I will love that...[System set to mute mode][Notifications only...][Completed
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Jacq caught up with the boy in few seconds, cursing silently after him. Either the boy did not hear or he chose not to bother, he kept on along a small patch of bare land amidst the sea of grass before jumping suddenly, diagonally to his left. Jacq followed suit, lifting his body weightlessly and jumping silently a few inches from the kid.The going was slow as the boy looked back continuously to make sure Jacq never missed a step. Then, the hop became more frequent, left to right, to right, to left, forward... They went on jumping the invisible landmines, apparently visible only to the boy.Then, as if he remembered something, the black boy looked back one last time, with one eyebrow raised meaningfully at Jacq, before running two steps forward and stepping sideways to his right, the last of him concealed by the thick dry bushes.Alarmed, Jacq followed at once, running two steps and jumping to his right just as he did. He got behind the thick set of bushes and saw the black figure of
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Cassie walked up silently to a raised platform inside the suiting lab. As she walked, murmurings were heard among the onlookers of the lab. Cassie bowed her head shyly as she made to speak. She was not built for this. She had always shied away from public speaking but right now, she has no choice... These are her people now. She is their commander and she wasn't about to let go of that position based on fear. More than half of the people here will jump at her post at any given opportunity.She raised her head and breathed deep one last time. The crowd before her gave her a little scare. She could see the glum face above his shuby blue suit, Greg's face plastered with a wide smile like a proud kid cheering his parents on, she could see Olatunde the Nigerian boy's eager face, like be was about to jump a playmate on a ring. She could see a whole lot of familiar faces that she hasn't seen together at once... Mutants created by her father, mutants bit recognized by the American government.
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It's finally happening. I didn't know it will be this fast...Right... Ugh...Jacq pressed hard on the Power Off button of the TV remote angrily that he almost broke it. It took all level of self control to stop him from smashing it down in the tiled floor. It is here... It is finally here, the reason for this system. The reason for building these technologies.Professor Lambert had carried out these measures just for the sake of America. His personal gain was not thought about when he embarked on developing the system from the already created blue orb. The owner of the system holds the power to lead the war and is essential if there was any chance of this war being won. And the owner of the system is me? Me? The more I think of it, the crazier it becomes... How..?"I can just stay hidden, can't I?" Jacq asked hoping for a reply from Stranger. There was only silence. He went on..."After all, the country is not aware of the existence of the orb anymore. They were convinced it wa
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The first crow of the day sounded down a deserted alley. In the gloom of the midnight, dark buildings rose high down the street with the moonlight making a silhouette of them. It had just rained and the ground was all muddy and slippery to walk on. Down a corner a little distance from the beginning of the street, a stray cat leapt over a gutter running from a stone thrown lamely at it. There were whispered sounds coming from cloaked men behind a dirty bakery."Munoz, listen to me. You only have three days to find the boy. After that, I won't defend you this time around." A dirty old man in his late sixties addressed his mate. He was dressed in black coat and a dark hat that concealed half his face. His foul breath mixed with the scent of the cigarette hanging from his mouth, giving a more offensive odour.Munoz stood opposite him in similar dress code, black on black. A middle aged man with a slightly tanned skin and a hooked nose. Coarse strands of hair scattered all over his sharp j
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Stranger, I think I should join them, Jacq thought in his mind.[Don't.]Jacq whispered a "why?" But he wasn't expecting an answer. He was engrossed in the insane combat between these two – Cassie and Olatunde.His sharp senses made him capture every movement they made, no matter how fast. The speed of the fight would have made everything look like a blur if observed by a normal human eye.After a short while, the two foes stopped to dialogue a little. From where Jacq hid, he could understand that Olatunde was proposing peace in exchange for something. That something though, he had no idea. Cassie showed a defiant reaction with an angry face, and in no time, Olatunde pounced on her again ready for another battle.Ugh, she's stubborn as always. But, Olatunde... How did he come about this power? He claimed this is his first time in this country.[Are you asking me or you're thinking to yourself?]"Both," Jacq whispered. "I mean, the orb is the only object responsible for..." He broke of
Sweats and Threats
Jacq's head was bent in thought as he treaded the lonely path on the way to school. He has a lot on his mind. Lots he couldn't even tell his best friend, Karl.Jacq wasn't convinced of the peace that has been happening in his life lately. He knew what is there waiting for him. The system of the greatest human weapon in the history of mankind that he had encountered can never be one to give him so much peace, he knew.As of late, he has been living in perfect harmony with the system. He had even given it a name – Stranger. The system had reacted rashly against the name but Jacq would have none of it. At the moment, all these are all a form of amusement to him. On his free evenings, he goes out down to the most deserted location in the area, just to test his speed and reflexes. He once ran a kilometer, amused by how the distance was less strenuous and how he hardly broke a sweat. Life was smiling at him at the moment, and he is enjoying every bit of it.But there was always that uneasy
