San Francisco’s Newest Hero

A:

Sitting on the rooftop of my gas station home, I carefully place a small rock on my finger. It balances on my thumb before I flick it into the empty desert.

I watch for a bit as the small rock flies through the air. It disappears from my view after a few seconds but I can still hear the thud as it hits the sand.

"I went further than last time," I tell myself.

With my telekinesis power, I pick up another small rock from the pile beside me. I place it on my finger, balances it on my thumb, and flick it into the desert once more.

"Not as far this time," I say, rising my ear and listening to the thud.

I sigh as I mentally pick up another rock. About to flick the rock, I stop. I sigh again and watch as the rock falls from my fingers. I listen as the rock falls toward the ground and thuds.

"I cannot stay here. I have to go somewhere else, but where."

My thoughts go back to the apartment with Layafette, Alfred, Matt, and Alieen. Especially Alieen.

"No," I say, shaking the thoughts away. "Alieen told me to stay away. I must respect her wishes. Still, I cannot stay here. It is too much."

With really no other option, I close my eyes and teleport away. Opening my eyes only a second later, I find myself in an alleyway in the city.

"Maybe this is what I need. A walk in the city."

Taking a deep breath, I peek out the alleyway before picking a random direction and walking down it. I walk and walk down the sidewalk, through an intersection, past a few dozen stores, until stopping all of a sudden.

"I do not feel better."

I sigh again as I look down.

"Why do I feel so sad? Why am I even feeling sad, to begin with? I have my life back. I should be happy, or at least what I consider happy before. No more interaction. No more having to deal with people. This is what I wanted. Right?"

I slap myself on the face as I try to make sense of what is going on. As I weigh the thoughts in my head, of having peace and quiet versus having Alieen and the others, I stop when I hear people screaming.

Turning my head, I see people running off the streets as a red car runs right through the crosswalk. It doesn't stop or even slow down. It just run right through the crosswalk, almost hitting a man and a woman. Even after crashing into a building, the car doesn't stop. Instead, it turns and now runs down the sidewalk.

I keep on watching as more and more people run out of the way. It is not until I see a tall woman pushing a baby stroller out of the way that I do something.

Using my teleportation power, I disappear and reappear in between the tall woman and the oncoming car. Now using my telekinesis power, I grab the baby stroller and roll it back into the woman's arms. With the baby back with its mother, I turn back toward the car. Stomping my feet on the sidewalk, I brace myself as the car runs right into my arms.

Despite catching and stopping the runaway car, it still would not stop. Looking at the two front wheels as they keep spinning, I reach over and rip through right off.

Throwing them to the side, I place the car down and walk over to the driver's seat. I expected to see a man with his mouth open considering what I did, but instead, as I approach the driver's door, I see an elderly man with his hand over his chest.

Even with my lack of social skills and knowledge, I can tell something is wrong. The elderly man's eyes are closed. It looks like he is sleeping but every now and then, he will suddenly shake.

I first try to open the door but it appears to be locked. With no other choice, I pry my fingers into the cracks before ripping the door off.

"Sir," I say, unbuckling the elderly man before gently placing him down on the sidewalk. "Sir! Are you okay?"

The elderly man does not answer me. Instead, all he does is gasp in and out.

"What do I do," I ask myself. "What do I do? I should call an ambulance but I do not have a cell phone."

I look around but it seems everyone is staying away from me. They are either too scared or too stunned to come near me but they do however form a circle around me.

"Fine," I say. "I can heal you myself."

Holding my hand over the elderly man, I close my eyes and start to focus. My palm glows with energy as I focus. The energy travels from my palm onto the man. It takes only a few seconds before the man stops gasping. Now, he is breathing.

His hand falls to his side and his eyes snap open.

"What happened," the elderly man asks as he pushes himself up. "Wh--Who are you?"

"I am..no one," I answer. "Are you okay? Do you remember what happen?"

"I--I was driving my car," elderly man starts, rubbing his head. "When my chest started to hurt. Then, my arm went numb. I tried to stop driving but I think I pass out."

"Hmm," I say. I turn around and look at the elderly man's car. "It seems you will be okay, but I do hope you have insurance. So long, sir."

With that, I stand up and disappear. While the black mist surrounds me, I can hear the sound of the crowd as they gasp and shout. A few people quickly take out their cell phone.

"Why are they taking out their phones now? I have already healed the elderly man."

I shake my head as I teleport away.

Jacob:

"No way," I say, watching from a distance as A saved the elderly man. "He saved him. A saved that man, but why?"

I didn't have much time to think about it. As A uses his power to teleported away, I see a bunch of people taking out their cell phones and aiming them at A.

"Oh no," I say. "A, you idiot."

Stepping back into the alleyway and making sure there is no one around me, I close my eye and focus. I then open my eyes and look into the mind of the one of the people in the crowd. Through his own eyes and ears, I can see what he see and hear what he hear.

"Oh my god," the person says, staring at his screen. On his screen is a video of A healing the elderly man. It clearly shows A with his glowing palm. A few seconds later, it shows A in the center of the black mist before he and all the black mist disappear.

"Oh my god," the person says again. "What the hell was that? Oh man! Other people need to see this!"

Almost immediately, the person starts to try and upload the video online.

"Nooo," I cry out. "I have to do something fast."

Pulling back, I find myself back in my own body, seeing the morals' world through my own eyes and ears. Stepping out of the alleyway, I look both ways before running across the street.

Running right into the crowd, I squeeze my way through and start to erase a few memories.

"Sorry about this," I say, gently placing my hand on a man's arm. He turns around when I do and the moment he sees me, I wipe his memory of the last few minutes clean. I then grab his cell phone and delete the video of A.

I do with the whole crowd until I'm sure no one remember A or his grand show.

Placing the last cell phone back into the woman's hand, I look both way again before running back across the street into the narrow alleyway.

"Lafayette," I telepathic shout. "Lafayette! Where are you?"

It takes a while for Lafayette to answer.

"Jacob," she starts. "I'm sorry. What's going on?"

"Big trouble. A was seen using his powers."

"Oh no. Was there a crowd?"

"A big one. Luckily, I'm here. I wiped their memory clean and delete the video, but this is getting out of hand. We need to stop A now! Before we're expose! Do you have it?"

"Have it? Oh yes! Yes! I have it!"

The second I hear it, I stop walking.

"Lafayette," I slowly say. "I told you already. You cannot lie to me. You don't have any of it, do you?"

"No," Lafayette sighs. "I'm sorry. I--I just had to do something first, but I'm on my way now."

"Okay. I'm counting on you. We'll meet up at A's gas station. Hopefully, this will be the end of it all."

I cut off the telepathic and teleport away.

The Mother:

"Ahh," I say, shaking my head as I try to steady myself. "Ahh, what happened?"

I look around and see a large crowd of people surrounding an elderly man and a car with no front tires. Before I could even wonder what is going on, I look down and see my sweet baby boy.

"Hi sweetie," I say, smiling as I lean in closer. "Hey, is that my phone in your hands?"

My baby boy is playing with my cell phone. I try to take it back but my baby isn't willing to give it up yet. An idea sparking in my head, I reach into my purse and pull out an Oreo.

"Trade?"

My baby smiles as he gives me my phone and takes the Oreo. While he chews on the cookie, I look at my phone. For some reason, my phone is recording. About to go back to the home screen, I stop.

"What's this," I ask, seeing a strange video. Having no memory of recording anything recently, I tap the video and start to watch it.