Touch

A tiny slit was made in Grountin's neck unintentionally by Phil holding the knife slightly too close.

"Any last words to tell this sacrifice for our love, babe?" Phil queried with a gaze of lunacy aimed at the woman.

"Seriously? You have all that supposed power and you can't get out of this? You're a pathetic little wannabe!" she chided Grountin, who looked downward in shame.

Phil believed she was talking to himself though, and replied, "I promise that I'll find a way to get rid of him in a different style, if that's what you want, babe. Anything for you."

The lady sighed, then said, "Then touch him. Supposedly that should be enough to defeat him."

Phil thought carefully about her words, trying to determine the logic behind what she said; she was perfect, after all, in Phil's opinion.

"Ohhh! You nasty, dirty girl! Alright, fine!" Phil chimed pleasantly. Then he reached for Grountin's pants and began undoing his zipper.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Grountin bewilderedly questioned Phil.

Phil smiled, continuing as he answered, "She wants me to touch you to defeat you. I bet you're one of those super macho dudes that can't admit when somebody gets the drop on 'em, aintcha? My babe is the smartest!"

The woman rolled her eyes in disbelief; then stared in disbelief; and then finally gawked in disbelief.

First, Grountin's pants were forcibly removed from his body by Phil. As much as he tried, Grountin did not know how to channel his abilities through his legs; hands, feet, and torso, yes; but legs, no. This is what truly led the lady to be convinced that all the power about which was boasted was merely a fib. As much as she was really hoping it was earnest, especially considering the desperate situation, the fact that her supposed potential hero could be easily stripped against his will led to the eye roll of disappointment.

Second, Phil really did intend to do as requested: he removed Grountin's penis from his underwear. Even though it was not erect, the lady, having had plenty of experience with male genitalia, could tell that it was larger than average. From her perspective, men like that did not need to lie to impress ladies, so this was highly unexpected of the man she could swear had tried to deceive her. The surprise led to her stare of being impressed.

Third, as Grountin was about to be molested, Phil turned to the woman and blew her a kiss, saying, "This is for you, babe." Then he disintegrated, supposedly being sent to a better place. His shoulder happened to tap Grountin's chest, upon which activated the immense electricity that Grountin had been trying to release the entire time. This lead to the lady's gawk of amazement. To Grountin's chagrin, only his torso was blue. If his face, neck, legs, or penis could utilize this miraculous skill, he would not be trapped in somebody's basement, dying from hunger; more than likely inevitably branded a killer and home invader; and with his dick completely exposed to the woman that he hoped to save.

"Okay, so..." the woman, after finally coming to terms with the trauma and surprises recently witnessed, slowly started to address the only other person in the room, "are you gonna break us outta here, or what?"

Grountin poured azure energy into his wrist restraints, but it simply created a circuit connecting back to himself.

"I don't know how," he grumbled, embarrassed.

The woman laughed, "Okay, okay. I get it. You wanna show off your big pac- Oh, yeah. You don't really lie, do you? Sorry." She then closed her eyes in focus, shrieking, "Hyaaaaah!"

A burst of red light illuminated the wall behind her, quickly followed by the smell of smoke and a consistent glow casting her shadow in Grountin's direction. In a few seconds, she was able to bring her arms forward, dropping the smouldering remains of her restraints onto the floor.

"I should just leave you here, shouldn't I? It'd keep my secret safe..." she theorized openly as Grountin stared daggers through her. "I'm just joking! You did save me. I'm grateful."

While she undid Grountin's restraints, very careful not to touch his skin or clothing directly, Grountin felt the need to ask, "Why didn't you do that in the first place?"

She groaned, then replied, "I can't always use my powers any which way, just the same as a certain somebody who let a dude touch him and expose him to a lady he barely knows. Okay?"

Grountin covered himself rapidly once his arms were free, turning his bottom to the woman as he slid his pants onto his body.

"My bad about all that," he uttered disdainfully. "Any chance you won't use any of this against me in the future? I'd rather just take a whipping, if that's your pleasure."

The lady chuckled, "Hehehe! Look, I know some disturbing things about you, but you know about my power, so I'd say we're even. Just tell me one thing: why was that man afraid of his neighbor?"

"Tell me your name and I'll answer," Grountin smirked.

"Hehe! Well played, sir!" she giggled. "I'm Upwina. Okay, enough stalling."

"One more thin-"

"No way," Upwina protested. "It's a one for one deal. That's that."

"Okay, fine," Grountin agreed reluctantly, but still cheerfully. "He feared her because of blackmail and her combat prowess."

"What?" Upwina outbursted in shock. "That little lady?"

"Yep," Grountin assured her. "Apparently, that woman is ranked fairly highly in a particular martial art. He tried to assault her once after he determined that she had that 'macho personality' you convinced him that I had. He was easily taken down back then. After that, she threatened to report him unless he paid her a certain amount of money every week. They even made it official with an NDA." Upwina gasped at the gossip as Grountin elaborated, "His goal with the boxing lessons was to, one day, overpower her and take advantage of that stoic personailty that would keep her from admitting her shame at his hands. But don't worry; he's in a better place now."

"He didn't deserve a better place, blockhead!" Upwina chastised.

Grountin explained, "Everything he did was fear-based, though. He needed to be saved; and disrupted, of course."

"Huh," Upwina thought out loud, "I guess you could look at it that way. How do your powers work, again? Why didn't they work at first, anyways?"

"Why didn't yours?" asked Grountin playfully. "You said 'one for one'. It's only fair."

She sighed, then said, "Nope. Not worth it," as she began to stroll upstairs.

"Wait!" Grountin pleaded. "Why not? Where do I find you? How can I contact you?"

Upwina snickered, "Ehhehehe! You thought that this would be more than a one-time deal. Trust me, guy, you don't want this woman."

"We-we can just be friends!" stammered Grountin in frustration.

Upwina spoke sorrowfully, spinning away from Grountin to do so comfortably, "Men can't be friends with a girl like me. It never goes that way." She then spun to face Grountin and started touching her thin, wispy body seductively; facetiously and loudly tempting him, "Because of my hot body! You know you want it!"

Grountin, unamused, told her, "Even though you have powers; even though you are beautiful, and should take it more seriously; that's not why- not the only reasons why I was interested in you. You seemed different in person- Y'know, like you seemed... Hmm..." He turned his back to concentrate on what he was trying to communicate.

She gazed at him in awe as she guessed, "You mean my character?"

"Yes! That's the one I was..." Grountin graciously accepted the assistance until he heard her creaking up the stairs speedily, nowhere to be seen once he turned back around to face the doorway.

Grountin quickly ran outside the house, searching for Upwina with no results worth mentioning. "Dang!" he semi-cursed in anger. Grountin at the very least wanted to ask about her doubts, but now he was uncertain if he would ever see her again with her unpredictability.

Grountin trudged inside Phil's house, grabbing a bag and filling it with as much food as it could hold. Then he walked to the section of town where he first saw Upwina. Grountin hoped that this would be enough to spot her. He relaxed at the bus stop, annoying every bus driver that drove by him thinking that he was awaiting their arrival.

Grountin grinned at the thought of meeting Upwina again. She was better than his old friends and disowning family ever were, even in combination. If she would replace them all, he could gladly let her. "We can just be- hyuhhhhh- friends," he yawned as he started to fall asleep. "Just don't leave. I promise, I'll beha- zzz..."

The next morning, waking to an irate bus driver honking their horn at him, Grountin felt at peace despite the excessive sound pollution. He dreamt about Upwina all night.

He took a look around himself, peering into buildings and vehicles. The people in the surrounding area became suspicious of him. He continued, regardless of the glaring in response until he was certain she was not in the vicinity.

"Oh, well," Grountin mumbled to himself. "Time to eat."

Several days passed of the same basic routine: wake, urinate, search for Upwina, eat, pointlessly job hunt, eat, defecate, then sleep; all the while waving off mad bus drivers and freaking out the general public. Grountin had been disciplined to not stop searching for things and check everywhere multiple times, so the angry glaring for doing so seemed very strange to him. Eventually, police were called onto the scene.

"Hey! You th- What th- Stop! Don't eat that!" yelled an officer of the statutes while staring at a eighteen-year-old commencing the intake of spoiled, rotten food. "Didn't your parents ever teach you better than that?!"

"Better than what?" Grountin sincerely inquired to the officer's dismay.

The stranger with a badge yanked a piece of deli meat from Grountin's bag, pointed at it, and sternly said, "See this green stuff? Eating that will kill you, son."

"But not eating will kill me," pontificated Grountin.

"Then find fresh food, moron! What are they teaching in schools these days?" the officer belted before he walked to the suspecting crowd, reassuring them that this kid was "special".

Grountin was about to bite into the food from Phil's house when he remembered something for which he was disciplined a long time ago: always obey anybody with a badge, no matter what.

"But, but... Aww, man!" Grountin groaned with attitude as he threw the rest of his dwindling food supply into the trash. "Now how do I find fresh food?" he wondered to himself.

The officer of the statutes that advised him earlier was nowhere visible to him any longer, so he scoured for another.

"I found you. That took a while. Phew," Grountin announced, relieved, as he spoke to an ostensibly older-looking man that seemed to have a badge.