Haha funny Number

Chapter 69

Wednesday. May 14, 2014

6:56 am

I groan as I use both of my hands to wipe the water from my face into the sink. I felt my chest tightened as the two stubs on my hand came into view. I sigh as I glance at the boxes hovering at my side. I look away and take out a towel from out of my Inventory and wipe the remaining water off my face. I stare down at my stubs and form two finger-shaped icicles on my hands. I stuck an icicle in the shape of an index finger onto the stub. I blink slowly as the icicle fell off into the sink. I crushed the finger in my left hand and punched the finger in the sink. I loud thud filled the room. The room fell completely quiet, the room quickly filled up with my quick, loud breathing through my mouth. I tear fell down my cheek, my eye twitched the more I looked at my stubs. I look away and towards the boxes.

I took a deep breath as the twitching in my eye stopped. I took slow, deep breaths as Gamer's Mind activated. I looked at the box and read what it said.

Thanks to the repeated use of skills, multiple skills leveled up!

Lvl 18 Physical Endurance -> Lvl 24(14%) Physical Endurance

Lvl 1 Shotgun Mastery -> Lvl 8(58%) Shogun Mastery

I sigh as I close the box. I lift my right hand to my chest and take out my watch. I quickly put on my watch and take out my green ring. I use my middle finger to hold the ring as I slip my left finger into the ring. I then take out the necklace I got from the robbery yesterday. I frown at the sight of the necklace.

"I lose two fingers, all I got was a necklace and not even that much money." I toss the necklace into the air and let the wind put the necklace around my neck. I stare emotionlessly at my reflection before walking to the door of the bathroom. "At least the necklace looks good."

I walk into my room and grab my backpack by my bed. I walk out of my room and into the living room. I look over at the kitchen island and see Goldie standing proudly while holding a plate of pancakes. I check my watch. I think I just have enough time to eat. I walk over to the island and sit down on a stool. Goldie set down the plate in front of me. Her hand lingered near the plate. I reach for the fork resting on the side of the plate. Before I could grab the fork, Goldie suddenly took the plate away from me. I look up at her with a shocked expression. She pointed towards my right hand and held up the plate of pancakes. I sit up straight on the stool as I wait for her to ask a question.

"What happened yesterday?" I play around with the fingers in my left hand as I stuff my right hand into my pocket.

"I got shot at."

"Tell me everything, Ivan." She said in a commanding voice. A strange, tense feeling washed over my body as I stared into her eyes. My gaze immediately turned towards the floor as I responded.

"I robbed a bank." I felt her gaze burn a hole in the back of my head. The strange feeling got stronger the more Goldie kept being quiet. I hesitantly look up, her eyes had a look of disappointment. I quickly look back down before she finally said something.

"Why!" I open my mouth to speak, but before I could speak Goldie continued on. "I know you have a lot of money, you don't have to pay rent or a mortgage, you don't pay taxes, you don't have you pay for anything." My chest swirled with the strange feeling as I responded.

"I have to buy something for the camp," I whispered under my breath. For some reason, I couldn't find the confidence to raise my voice and lie my way out of the problem like I usually do. It felt wrong to lie to Goldie, I couldn't force myself to do it. "And I didn't want to use my own money." Goldie set down the plate and reached for my necklace. She grabbed the triangle design hanging off my chain and gently raised it up to her eyes. She carefully looked at the necklace. I could see her grind her teeth as her hand started to shake in anger. She left go of the necklace and gently set down the plate of pancakes on the island.

"Did you kill people for that necklace?"

"I didn't kill the person wearing the necklace." Her expression quickly changed from anger to disappointment. Her eyes were wet with tears. Her eyebrows lowered, creases in her forehead formed as she slowly pushed the plate towards me.

"That isn't right." She said with a disappointed tone. I nod silently as I picked up the fork with my left hand. The fork felt awkward in my hand, the fork should be my right hand. My thoughts were interrupted by Goldie. "You remember how I told you about how I fought in Civil War?" I put down the fork and stare up at her.

"Is was your friends right?" She shook her head.

"That was one reason, my main reason was," she took a deep long breath. "I wanted more power, I wanted to be in command. I didn't have morals at first, I did many terrible things just for the chance of power. I didn't get that power, I only had the regrets of the things I've done, the lives I ruined. I would like to think that I did it for the right causes, I didn't. I've seen many people do bad things for the right causes." Goldie sighed solemnly. "Those causes were forgotten, the bad things they did worsen. I was really lucky I saw the consequences of my actions before it was too late. You're just starting to do all these evil things, you can still stop before something comes back to bite you." Goldie sighed as she walked over to my side of the island and sat down on a stool. "I called your school, you can take the day off today."

"Oh, um, thank you." I bite dig my fork into the pancakes and awkward cut off a piece off the pancake. I bring it up to my mouth and bite down.

"After you're done eating, I'll take out somewhere." I put down my fork and stared at her.

"Where are you going to take me?"

"It's a surprise, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What is it."

"No more robbing, no more stealing. No more using your powers for your own benefit, I'm teaching you how to use magic for self-defense, not to kill or rob people because they have something you want." I stare down at my pancakes. I could lie to make her happy, who knows if I'll need more money soon? My chest tightened at the thought of lying to Goldie. She just wants the best for me, but she doesn't know what I have to do.

"Yeah, I won't steal or rob. I got the money I need, I don't need to rob no more."

"You already had the money, you just didn't want to use your own." I stayed silent not really knowing what to say. I decided to pick up my fork and start to cut the pancakes into tiny pieces.

I wonder if Qaid is going to scold me for not getting the solar panels yesterday.

8:03 am

I stare up at a bright yellow sign spelling out Auto Parts. There was a symbol of a metal arm flexing its muscles. I look towards Goldie.

"What's this place for?

"It's for prosthetics. I would take you to a regular doctor but I know you like your jewelry, so I thought that you would like something special. Something to look nice to replace your fingers." I took a step back away from the shop. I used my index finger and rubbed the tip of the finger over my stubs.

"Couldn't you just have taken me to someplace where I could grow back my fingers or something like that?"

"I don't know any places like that. Even if I did not many people who use their powers to just grow back some fingers, it would be too expensive anyway." I blanket of disappointment covered my body as Goldie walked towards the building.

I reluctantly follow after her and enter the building. The floor was a plain gray tile floor. The ceiling and walls were yellow. The building was filled with chairs. I notice tiny spots of blood around the chairs. There were people dressed up in a stereotypical white doctor's coat, some had what looked like laser points in their hands while some others had markers in their hands. There were people with all sorts of missing limbs sitting down in the chairs. I notice one guy missing his arms and a leg sitting down anxiously in a chair. One of the people wearing a doctor's coat grabbed one of the arms and used a marker to create a circle where his arm should be. The doctor then put the marker into their coat and stretched out their arm. A tiny think cloud of smoke covered their body as the doctor's wrist started to tear open. The inside of the doctor's arm had a rectangular box that had windows on each side. Beneath the box was a long piece of metal that connected the flesh and the box to each other. The box started to rise up into the air. Tiny sticks of plastic appeared out of nowhere in the corners of the box. Bright red beams of light came out of the plastic and started to randomly move around the bottom of the box. A thin, barely visible blue piece of metal appeared where the lights were pointing at. The piece of metal got bigger and bigger the more the lights moved around the box. In just a few seconds a blue arm with black stripes running down the arm materialized in the box. A window on the box flung open, the doctor reached into and grabbed the arm. The window closed as the box started to slowly retract back into the doctor's arm.

I slightly jumped as Goldie put her hands on my shoulders and lead me towards the back of the store. At the back of the store were stands that had various designed prosthetics. Underneath the prosthetics were signs that described the different features you could buy. Some were as simple as a flashlight and a pen; then there were much more complicated features like super strength and guns attached to the prosthetics. Near the stands was a single desk with a cash register and a computer. There was a woman with tired eyes with a bored expression sitting at the desk. Goldie let go of my shoulders and walked up to the cashier. She looked back towards me and waved at me to come over. I walk over to the desk and stand by Goldie's side. The cashier slowly blinked.

"Yes ma'am, how can I help you today?" The cashier said in a bored voice. Goldie nodded and happily responded.

"Hi, my," Goldie looked down at me and stared at me for a bit before looking back up at a cashier. "Son," Goldie said with a bit of hesitation. I step away from Goldie with disgust. Memories of my mom hitting me, yelling at me, leaving me by myself for days rushed back into my mind. I didn't like the idea of Goldie being my mom, it felt insulting to her, she's completely opposite to what my mom is. Goldie actually makes me feel safe, I can actually go home happy knowing that I don't have to worry about anyone screaming, no one threatening to hit me. I would rather just call Goldie, Goldie, instead of a word I don't like saying. I reluctantly take a step towards her as she kept talking. "Wants," she shook her head. "Needs prosthetics for his hand." The cashier slowly nodded as she looked towards me.

"Can I see your hand, sir?" I nod as I slowly raise up my hand and show the stubs on my fingers. I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she felt around my hand. I wouldn't even need to have prosthetics if it weren't for Dominique. I felt a burning, heavy feeling wash over my body as she let go of my hand. I felt my eyebrows scrunch up together in anger as the cashier typed into the computer. I took a long deep breath before calming myself down. A tight feeling lingered in my chest as the cashier turned back to me. "Unfortunately, we can not fit any features into your prosthetics but your prosthetics will grow with you. There is the option to cut off your entire arm to include the features into your prosthetics, this will require more money." I kept my right art to my chest as a tingly feeling went down my arm.

"I would rather keep my arm." I accidentally say in a commanding tone. My legs shook as she nodded. She turned and pointed to the prosthetics on the stands.

"Please look at some designs of the prosthetics set up while we get someone to treat you." I nod and quickly walk away from her. Goldie quickly followed after me as I walked over to the hand prosthetics with my head down. I stop in front of a random stand. My breathing got louder and louder before I forced myself to look up. My eyes met a green hand with yellow lines going down each hand only for the hands to meet up in the middle of the hand. The hand was a shiny dark green. I stomp on the ground and bite my lip. I felt the taste of metal enter my mouth as Goldie gently hugged me.

"You like this one?" Goldie asked in a soft voice. I take one more deep breath to calm down. I stare up at the hand and nod.

"I might as well get this one."

"You don't want to look at any other ones?" I shake my head.

"I like the color green." Goldie smiled as she stared at the arm.

"I think this would look nice on you." I slowly nod my head.

"Yep," I say with uninterest. Goldie stared down at me with sad eyes. I grit my teeth as I involuntary glare at her. Goldie's smile turned into a frown. She backed up slowly as we stood there silently. I look over at the doctors and notice another person getting their prosthetic in the exact same way as the first person I saw, with the same exact abilities, with the same exact method. I thought people were supposed to have different Soul abilities, that's usually what happens whenever I meet someone with Soul. I know people can make their own powers, but I don't know if people can make replicate someone else's powers.

"Goldie?" I asked as Goldie looked down at me.

"Yes?"

"How come I saw two different doctors with the same exact powers," I asked Goldie as I pointed at a doctor walking isles of chairs.

"With Soul, people can make their own abilities. While making their own abilities, they can choose to copy someone else's powers. A lot of people wouldn't recommend copying someone else, but businessmen decided to get a bunch of people to learn the same exact ability to run their own shops."

"Then if someone else has a really useful ability, what's stopping someone from copying it? Wouldn't it be smarter to just copy it than just making your own?" Goldie bent her knees until she was around my height and pointed at a doctor drenched in sweat as he sat in a chair. A tiny, stream of smoke left his head as he tried to catch his breath. "Some people are not made for some abilities," she quickly pointed at another doctor easily walking around with a thin line of smoke surrounding his body. It wasn't as much smoke as I've seen on other people but it was a lot more than the other doctor. "Some people, on the other hand, were made for some abilities." I nod my head as a female doctor with her hair tied up in a ponytail approached me.

"Hello sir," the doctor said in a kind voice. I frown as I turned to look at her. I stared up at her and silently nodded in response. The doctor looked uncomfortable as she began to ask me another question. "Did you pick a design that you like?" I nod again and point up at the green arm. The doctor took a quick glance before forcing herself to smile and turned around. "Please follow me, sir." I didn't do or say anything as she walked away. I stared down at the floor before sighing. I stare at the stubs on my fingers. A flash of Dominique pointing a gun at my forehead went through my head as I stared at the floor. I quickly blink and lookup. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw that Dominique was nowhere in sight. I wonder what he's doing anyway.

I quickly follow the doctor to a nearby chair and sit down. I felt a rush of adrenaline run up and down my body as smoke began to pour out of the doctor. My body had the strong urge to get up and defend itself. A strange numb feeling came over the stubs on my hand as the doctor pulled out a laser pointer. I nervously stare at the laser pointer as the doctor pointed the laser pointer to where my thumb was supposed to be. The doctor pressed a button on the side of the laser pointer. My toes curled as a tense fire-like sensation went up to my arm, through my chest, and up into my head. I felt the room spin as I felt the sides of my head get squeezed by what felt like an invisible pair of hands. The doctor quickly turned off the laser pointer. I felt the pressure in my head disappear, the hot feeling in my body slowly faded away. I looked towards my health bar, I was surprised to see that only a tiny piece of red was gone. I felt my left-hand shake as the doctor pointed the laser pointer at the stub where my index finger was.

I bite my lip as hard as I could to stop myself from screaming. I felt my legs cramp as I curled my toes from the pain traveling up to my head. Everything blurred as I felt my body go numb. The doctor didn't turn off the laser, but for some reason, all that pain that made my body feel like it was on fire disappeared. My head felt light, I heavy cooling feeling fell over me. I yawn as the doctor turned off the laser pointer and put the laser back into her pocket. I felt my eyes droop the more I yawned.

The doctor stretched out her arm, a thick cloud of smoke covered her body as her flesh started to spread apart to reveal a box with mirrors on the side. Tiny red beams of light came from tiny plastic sticks in the corners of the box. The lights quickly moved to create a green metal finger with a yellow line going down the middle in the shape of an index finger. I felt my eyes widen as the lights quickly began working on the thumb. I sank into my chair as the lights stopped. The glass flung open, the doctor reached into the box and grabbed my new metal fingers. The box retracted back into her arm. She pointed her index finger at my stubs, her nails cracked open to reveal a tiny piece of plastic sticking out in the middle of her nail. A green beam of light came from her finger. The beam of light was cast over my finger, my skin felt fuzzy. I felt the air move by my finger as she pointed her finger at my other stub. My hand and arm felt numb as the light shut off. The plastic in her finger went back into her finger as her nails came back together. The crack in her nail disappeared. She put the metal thumb into her pocket, she brought up the metal index finger to my stub. She lifted up my hand and put the cold metal finger to my skin.

I felt something slowly enter my skin, I felt a dull pain throb through my hand as the tip of the metal finger started to bend. The dull pain stopped, the finger straightened out before it bent just a little. With little effort, I flexed the finger and slowly straightened it out. I flexed my finger so that it touched my palm, all I felt was a faint dull thump when the finger touched my palm. I didn't feel the warmth of my skin, I didn't feel anything. The doctor took the thumb out of her pocket and held it up to my stump. I felt the same dull pain pulse through my hand before the pain suddenly stopped.

It didn't feel like I had my fingers back, it felt off. I felt the weight from the metal, but it was like my fingers were numb. The doctor stepped back and smiled. Goldie stepped in front of me and looked over her shoulder with a smile.

"Go wait at the front Ivan, I'll pay for it." I stare at her with blank eyes. The world felt like plastic as I nodded silently and stood up. I looked around the shop, there was something that felt off with the room. I tried to ignore the feeling and walked to the entrance. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. It felt weird having two weights hanging off my right hand. Everything blurred as I walked out of the store. I stepped to the side of the door and sit down on the hard concrete floor. I stared down at my right hand to see the green metal cylinders acting as my fingers. I bring up my left arm to my chest, I tapped the palm of my arm with my metal index finger. I felt nothing. I tapped again and still felt nothing. I turned over my right arm and tapped my palm with my left index finger. I felt the warmth of my body beneath my finger. I kept my finger on my palm for half a minute. The smooth feeling of my skin felt like I was feeling an inanimate object. I knew I was feeling my own skin, but there was this feeling that felt like I was touching another person. I let my hands fall to my side. I stared down at the ground for a while. I stared and stared until the ringing of a bell took away my attention from the ground. I lazily look up and see Goldie walk out of the store.

I slowly stand up with shaky legs.

"You want to get something to eat?" Goldie asked.

"Didn't we just have breakfast awhile ago?"

"When you're constantly moving around and exercising, you need food."

"But I don't exercise that much."

"You're still growing." Goldie proudly said. I sigh before nodding.

"Fine, where do you want to eat?"

8:13 am

I stare at the smoothie in my hand. Across from me was Goldie's empty seat. I look around the food court and see multiple clothing stores littering the outskirts of the mall. I take a quick sip of my smoothie as I saw Goldie exploring a clothing store. I look back towards her empty seat. My mouth exploded with the flavor of strawberry. I take my lips off the straw and prop up my head with my hand. I knew Magebourne was a huge city, but I don't know how I didn't find a mall before Goldie showed me. I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. I use my right arm to d squeeze the arms of the chair I was sitting in. I felt my middle, ring, and pinky turn purple as I squeezed the chair. I felt a dull push against my hand where my index and thumb should be. I stop squeezing and look at my metal fingers. I shut my eyes and see Dominique holding his M16 towards my forehead. I open my eyes and find myself back at the mall. I take a shaky breath as a box suddenly appeared.

New quest!

Kill Dominique!

Rewards:

215 xp

$250

10 points

New Title

Failure Consequences:

Your pride decreases

Dominique might try to find you

Accept?

Yes

No

I click Yes without even thinking about what would happen if I did come for him. I trusted him when he took me on robberies. He was the first person to house and fed me when I first found out I was a demigod. He was good to me, he treated me better than my mom. I didn't see him as a friend, or a parent, I don't know how to describe what he was to me, but I know that I could at least rely on him sometimes. I can understand why he doesn't want me around anymore, even though I understand why he tried to kill me. It still doesn't feel real.

I put my lips back on the straw as I heard Goldie walk up behind me. I jump in my chair as a black blur fell down in front of me. I look at the table to see a pair of black leather gloves sitting down on the table. Goldie walked around the table and sat down in her seat. I put my smoothie down and pick up the gloves.

"What's this for?" Goldie shrugged as she smiled.

"I just thought you would like it." I couldn't help but grin at Goldie's gift.

I hope Goldie doesn't start to hate me one day.