10

  In the small town of Baro, Nigeria, it was almost always tranquil. Almost always. That day in particular at least started calmly, with the only thing to note being that a woman had deviated from her regular path in her morning routine, leisurely looking around the local park for a place to sit down and rest as she flipped through the pages of the newspaper in her hands. The birds were chirping and the sounds of the early morning bustle were the perfect white noise the woman needed to create ambiance. It didn’t take her long to find a wooden bench near the edge of the park, and she allowed herself to take a deep breath of fresh air before flipping to the next page of the paper, a wide smile resting comfortably on her lips as she sat down. Alas, her peace simply wasn’t meant to be. As soon as she sat down, her precious morning time was interrupted by the uncomfortably grating and disturbing sound of metal scraping metal in the way that made people’s teeth clench uncomfortably.

  She looked up from her reading material and noticed that the lamppost she had been sitting under was rather quickly and violently being torn off its base, the screws keeping it pinned to the floor ripping themselves free with such force that they came out either perfectly smooth or completely torn to shreds with almost no in-between. The lamppost followed suit soon after, beginning to hover in the air as soon as the screws were no longer keeping it down. The woman raised an unimpressed eyebrow, watching as the metal pole started to float up into the sky; slowly at first, but very quickly gaining speed until it was indistinguishable from a massive yet oddly shaped javelin. She didn’t even bother to move as she watched the spectacle, noting how the broken screws quickly followed suit, also flying off into the air like shrapnel from a cannon. The copper cables that ran underground to supply the lamppost with energy were next, the open ends of the crackling filaments still brimming with electricity being tugged at violently by some invisible force, more and more of the cable being uncovered as the ground all around it began to break apart. The woman sighed and closed the newspaper in her hand, finally fed up with the happenings around her, the article she was reading simply not being interesting enough to distract her from the fact that the ground all around her had ruptured and various metal objects now dotted the sky above.

  “That damned man!! Can’t he visit his hometown a single time without destroying the entire place?!” she muttered to herself in annoyance, watching as a housewife screamed in anger and did her best to take out the clothes still inside the washing machine as said object began to float off the ground and quickly gain acceleration towards the window - the window frame itself also contorting and therefore shattering the glass inside it in order to escape the confines of the house and fly away before quickly becoming a dangerously fast projectile. All around the town the chorus of annoyed and angered voices only swelled as civilisation itself seemed to be breaking at the seams. Almost every single metallic object one could imagine had ruptured from where humans had dared to nail it down and flown off into the horizon, aggregating in some sort of cloud in the distance. The woman grumbled and stuck her newspaper under her arm, walking away and towards her home to clean the inevitable mess she would find. Thank god I decided to sit on a wooden bench today, and not a metal one. She thought in annoyance, picturing herself being carried away into the sky by a rogue piece of cable.

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  “TEN!! GET DOWN HERE AND FIGHT YOU COWARD!!!” a young man cried out in rage while pointing an accusatory finger at the armor-clad figure floating in the sky up above. Ten stared coldly at the criminal below, standing atop a simple cooking tray that was keeping him in the air. The hero noticed how the ground was cracking around his opponent’s feet and dirt pieces had begun to float off the ground. So he’s a geomancer. Ten noted dully, his gaze turning around to slowly view his enemies one by one. Ten was as easily recognisable as celebrities got, his pearly white irises forming a rather unique contrast with his charcoal colored skin - so it wasn’t surprising at all that the criminals had been able to track him and ambush him like this. A whole ten of them had gathered around him, ironically, all of them with a distinct look of hatred in their eyes, forming a sort of makeshift circle around their target. The one that had just spoken, which Ten assumed to be their leader, had said something about revenge earlier as well. Something about a deceased father, and about how the hero they had surrounded was the scum of the earth. All in all, they were just like all the other self-serving grander-than-thou wannabe vigilantes that Ten had faced before; nothing special. What the hero DID care about, however, was the fact that this group had the rare quality of being composed of people that could genuinely pose a threat to someone lesser than him. This is ridiculous. Why would talented people throw away their lives like this?? And so young too! Are they blind to their potential for greatness, or are they merely stupid? No… Rather… How DARE they waste such potential on committing injustice of all things?! Petty crime and murder!! Bullshit. Ten pondered sourly, feeling genuine anger at the current situation, his arms crossed while his face contorted in disgust by what he was seeing.

  He interlaced his fingers, addressing all those below him with the warning he gave all of his enemies; “Surrender peacefully now, and I will bring you to justice unharmed.” His short speech was met with venomous laughter by those gathered around, clearly not finding his words persuasive at all. The hero narrowed his eyes, separating his hands, unaffected by the childish mocking, “You’ve made your choice, then,” he claimed calmly, raising his hands. The laughter stopped abruptly, all eyes on Ten as one of the criminals tensed his legs, jumping up into the air and effortlessly reaching Ten’s altitude, a fist flying towards the hero’s face with surprising speed. “Surrender?! Surrender THIS!!” the young man yowled, his face scrunched up in hatred and anger. This one is a physical enhancer. Ten thought quickly, extending his right arm outward, commanding the metal that was continuously gathering around him from all over town to do his bidding. The cooking tray he was standing upon darted to the side, taking Ten with it, dodging out of the way of the incoming fist. In his place, the physical enhancer was met by a barrage of knives that descended from the sky like a rain of arrows, smashing violently against his skin. Despite the criminal’s durable body being naturally able to resist the piercing of the knives, the sheer blunt impact force of so many of them slamming into his body one after the other was enough to knock the wind out of his lungs and send him flying backwards with incredible force, slamming into and subsequently splintering a tree with his body. Ten interlaced his fingers once more, his irises glowing a pale white as they darted between the rest of his targets, eyeing to see who would be his next victim, not wasting any time while moving from one target to the next. Many of his assailants hesitated after watching their comrade fly right through a tree like it was nothing, eyeing each other in uncertainty but still not backing down. Fine. if you won’t attack, I will. Cowards. Ten thought in disgust while raising his arms, a storm of various metallic objects gathering above him as he prepared to go on the offensive. His plan was interrupted by a fearful shout coming from behind him, “W-Why can’t you just DIE?! It’s all your fault!!” exclaimed the desperate, trembling voice of a young woman.

  The hero turned around in surprise, the woman making a finger gun aimed right for his forehead, sweat running down her terrified expression while gritting her teeth in intense fear, her body shaking violently. Ten hesitated for a moment, analysing the situation. A finger gun?? I don’t see any physical objects, though. What is she even- An energy attack!! He quickly realized, snapping one of his fingers to command the objects around him to move as he desired. And just in the nick of time, too. Had Ten merely used regular metal objects to block the beam of blue plasma that had just been fired from the woman’s fingertips, it was very likely he would have died then and there. Instead, the mirror that had rushed in between them deflected the beam with not even a second to spare, making the attack bounce off into a nearby patch of dirt, the affected area bubbling while the very ground itself melted into a liquid from the heat. The mirror’s glass subsequently shattered, and the metal frame melted into red hot goop. Ten’s eyes narrowed, a single drop of sweat running down his face from how close of a call that had been. He turned to look at the woman in anger, preparing to retaliate only to see her passed out on the floor. Huh?! Oh. Must be a single use ability, then. No wonder it was so strong… He snapped his fingers while turning to look coldly at the rest of his enemies, some copper wire descending and wrapping around the woman, lifting her up in the air like a prisoner.

  And yet, despite the seeming indifference the hero had just displayed; deep down he was absolutely FURIOUS. That nearly got me. How could I get so cocky?! You should be better than this, Ten!! How could such a feeble villain, a mere criminal, have come that close to knocking him out permanently?! How could he ever respect himself if he could be taken off guard that easily?! His line of thought was interrupted when he witnessed the eyes of those gathered below light up, all of them activating their powers simultaneously. Ten responded in kind, his own pale white eyes beginning to glow intensely as the hurricane of metal floating above him began to condense, becoming more uniform and less chaotic. They were planning on barraging him all at once, he realized. I’m going to have to go on the defensive for this. He thought in annoyance, once more complaining internally that such talent was being wasted away like this. He pressed the tips of his fingers together, forming a sphere with his hands, commanding the metal to follow his example. The gathering storm of various objects floating around him quickly coalesced into a single amalgamation of a metallic plate that wrapped around him, forming a hollow sphere with him at the center, the walls being half a meter thick. The last hole in the barrier closed right as a sharp tree root came flying at him from one of his opponents, the sound of the wood hitting metal creating a resounding clanking sound, denting the metal sphere. Ten crossed his arms, closing his eyes as he concentrated on the metal surging around him, the sounds of multiple different attacks impacting the barrier he had formed around himself resounding all over the structure like he was standing inside the bell of a bell tower. The noise of metal being scraped and torn and smashed against became so loud at one point that his ears popped, and yet he didn’t waver even once. Enough self indulgent complaining! I’m going to end this quickly. I don’t have the time nor energy to waste on spoiled goods.

  Ten remained perfectly still, focusing on defending himself while concentrating deeply on maintaining the structural integrity of the orb. His eyes flew open, flashing brightly the moment he stopped feeling attacks hit his defense. They must be resting or formulating a plan to break through. This is my chance. He uncrossed his arms so violently they nearly dislocated, the orb around him beginning to vibrate intensely, the very atoms that made up the various metals beginning to shake. Ten took a deep breath and raised a hand before closing it into a tight fist, the structure around him suddenly exploding outward with extreme force, creating a flood of shrapnel akin to if he had just detonated a 3 meter cubed sized fragmentation grenade. The flying material pierced through everything and anything it touched like it was wet paper; concrete, dirt, wood, bricks, and even flesh alike. The area all around the impact zone became reminiscent of a missile strike; except it was just the physical damage without any of the burning. A nearby house was impacted as well, tearing the affected wall to shreds and causing the building to cave in. More importantly, Ten had taken the group of would-be murderers by surprise, who had probably been expecting him to target them individually. The more skilled among them had managed to notice that something was wrong and had shielded themselves with their powers. The remaining five were not so lucky, having been torn to slices like a cut onion. Good. This should make the rest of them give up faster. Ten thought to himself, averting his eyes from the gruesome corpses, perhaps to calm his conscience. Let's try to keep bloodshed to a bearable amount.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Surrender now,” Ten demanded, taking a step forward menacingly unto a different metal tray that flew in front of him, forming a sort of makeshift stairway as the various pieces of shrapnel stuck to the various surfaces around him began to dislodge themselves and return to the cloud above him. The rest of the criminals stared back at the hero in pure horror from behind their mismatched defenses; a rock wall that had to be at least a meter thick in order to stop the explosion from tearing his flesh asunder, a reinforced body belonging to the original attacker from earlier who had nonetheless been scratched all over the arms, and a tree that had sprung suddenly out of the ground to take in the brunt of the damage were some examples among the assorted and haphazard ways they had defended themselves. “Subject yourselves to justice or be cut down where you stand. Either way, your fates are the same; you meet the ultimate destiny you deserve,” he finished calmly, the swirling storm of assorted metal objects flying around him like a small hurricane that was only growing larger and larger every passing second. The storm had gotten so big at that point that it was casting a shadow over the entire park where the hero and his assailants had gathered, only adding to the tense atmosphere. The only light sources beyond the scattered beams of sunlight that made it past the thick metallic cloud were the light emanating from the irises of Ten and his enemies, making for a rather climactic view.

  The words of the hero seemed to snap the leader of the group out of his horrified stupor from behind his rock wall, and not in the way Ten had hoped. His eyes fully narrowed and his face grew reddened in rage. “Justice?! BULLSHIT!!! You’d be in HELL by now if the world was truly as just as you preach!! YOU’LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY FATHER!!!” he spat out with so much sheer venom in his voice that it genuinely staggered the hero, the light emanating from his irises faltering for a split moment as his eyes were averted away from his assailant. The young man grit his teeth in desperation and exchanged looks with his physical enhancer comrade, both giving each other a brisk nod of invigoration and grim dejection as they suddenly charged at Ten with guttural sounds of desperate rage. The other two remained intelligently still, too shell shocked, hurt, or perhaps even spiritually crushed to move. Ten’s eyes flashed back towards the charging vigilantes, his otherwise calm and commanding demeanor changing into an emotional state of hatred once he had snapped out of the stupor the young man’s words had put him into. He answered in a deceptively calm voice, merely lifting his arm to point at the charging duo, “There is no ‘bullshit’ in what I do, cretin,” he hissed with sheer murderous intent, the swirling metal becoming even more erratic and chaotic, “I don’t play pretend. I AM the judge. I AM the jury. I AM the executioner. And YOU… You are guilty.”

  Suddenly the raging hurricane ceased entirely from moving, remaining perfectly still. A split second later it all went flying towards the two of them, the entire weight and power of a small town’s worth of metal crashing into them like a sharp and cutting tsunami. They completely disappeared into the shining tidal wave with sharp yelps of terror, vanishing underneath the rushing hordes of knives, pans, refrigerators, picture frames, coat hangers, wires, telephones, T.V.’s, and all other imaginable objects under the hero’s command. Every time a piece of metal completed a 20 meter trajectory, it looped back around to do it all over again, forming a sort of vertical whirlwind. Ten wanted to make sure that the criminals had been decimated, leaving absolutely no room in his mind that they could possibly survive. His pride depended on it. His hatred urged him to do it. His ideals forced him to follow through with it. It was only after an entire horrid half minute that he lowered his hand and the metal finally retreated back, floating up above him in an unorganized cluster so he could look down at the ground where the criminals had been moments ago. A massive area of grass and dirt had been ground down into an unrecognizable stretch of pulverized rock and overturned mud where the metal had repeatedly slammed and slashed into, leaving behind what could only be described as a small crater.

  Ten jumped down from the metal tray he had been using as a platform, kicking up a bit of dust as he walked over to the two bodies laying on the floor. His armored boots got muddy and dirty as he approached the first body, although he didn’t seem to care. The first body - that of the physical enhancer - was mostly intact save for the massive circular hole going straight through his chest. If I had to guess… The hero pondered, squatting down with narrowed eyes, shooing away dust with some trays in order to get a better look. I’d say he got impaled by a lamppost, like a spear. He stood up, leaving the body laying there unceremoniously, and approached the second body - the one belonging to the geomancer and leader of the failed operation. This one had been torn to utter shreds, becoming practically unrecognizable. More than that, he was missing his head. For this one, I’d guess a pan or other flat object cut through his neck, leaving him like this. Ten sighed and turned on his heels, tilting his head ever so slightly while staring coldly at the remaining two criminals, his hands resting on his hips, daring them to try anything. Intimidating them further proved to be unnecessary, though, since both of them already had their hands high up in the air, their eyes wide in fear and tears running down their cheeks. “P-PLEASE!!!” cried out one of them, his entire body shaking fearfully and dropping to the ground on his knees as soon as Ten gave him his direct attention, “I WON’T DO ANYTHING EVER AGAIN!!! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!!!” The other remaining member had a blank stare in his eyes, seemingly incapable of doing anything but stare at the corpses of what used to be his close friends.

  The hero looked away without a single change in his expression, flicking his wrist and making a long copper wire tighten around both of them, floating into the air and picking them up for easy transportation, as well as some of the wire wrapping around their heads to shut them up. The finger gun woman was also lifted into the air, already bound by copper wires, joining the other two. Ten took a deep breath and began to walk away, steadying himself. I got shaken too easily. I… overreacted. He chastised himself, the glow in his eyes diminishing now that the battle was over. Come on, you’re better than this, Ten. You can’t let some idiots fluster you this badly. He continued to ponder about his situation, walking through various blocks of the city, the amalgamation of metal floating all above him quickly dispersing as all of its constituents flew back to where they were originally. Window frames returned to where they were supposed to go, twisting into their original shape despite being banged up, and fitted themselves against the holes in the wall. It didn’t exactly bring back the glass that made up the window itself, but SOME damage control is better than none - at least that’s what Ten reasoned as he continued to direct the various other metallic objects to fly back to their original destinations and patch themselves up to the best of his ability. It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the police station thereafter.

  The sheriff nervously looked up from his desk and at the visage of the hero carrying three bodies floating above him. The pudgy man quickly stood up from his seat and approached his patron with clasped hands and an anxious smile, sweat running down his face, “A-Ah!! Ten!! It has been a while, hasn’t it?? Here- don’t worry about it!! Just leave the criminals here and we’ll-” Ten ignored the sheriff and his laudings, flicking his hand and making the door to a jail cell fling open, the criminals being carried inside by the copper wire before the door closed and subsequently locked itself. “No need, sheriff,” Ten added dismissively, turning around to leave, “Although you should call a cleanup crew near St. Bartholomew’s Church.” The sheriff gulped and nodded quickly, rushing back to his desk and eyeing the three bound criminals inside the jail cell before dialing the morgue. Ten turned around to leave, not bothering to look back at the incarcerated foes. He felt no need to acknowledge them; after all, he was certain they would never dare to do anything stupid ever again. In the end, despite his methods being widely criticized, no one could contest Ten’s results; all criminals he ever caught were never again found committing criminal activity. It’s better to be feared than loved, despite what my boss insists. As he began to walk out the front door of the jail, a thought suddenly struck him, hesitating. He turned around, his hand still on the recently re-attached doorknob of the main door. “Sheriff. Who was the geomancer’s father?” he asked with genuine curiosity, displaying a mixture of emotions that the sheriff had never seen the hero express despite the many many years they had known each other.

  The sheriff swallowed audibly, sweating buckets every instance he spent near the hero. The sheriff wasn’t a corrupt man, he wasn’t anywhere near being a criminal in any sense. He was honest and had a good career as a police officer, genuinely seeking the best for the people of this small town. And yet, he had seen enough of Ten to perpetually fear that man. “Well, I haven’t had the chance to ID him… but from your description and his powers, I would say it’s safe to assume he is the son of that geomancer bank robber you fought last time you visited, sir!!” the sheriff answered truthfully, pursing his lips as he looked away. He always remembered all of Ten’s… catches. He felt like it was his responsibility to the town where such a legendary hero had been born to at least keep a record, despite Ten himself refusing to do so. The hero remained deep in thought for a moment. Ah, I remember now. He was the one that resisted arrest that time. Like father, like son. He sighed, thanked the sheriff, and promptly walked out. It’d cost the Hero Association a few hundred thousand dollars to repair everything that had been irreparably damaged, even though he had already returned everything still functional back to its original spot - although Ten wasn’t concerned about that. The hero turned to look at the limousine parked outside of the jail, waiting for him. There it is. Took the Association long enough. He took a step towards the car, but was promptly stopped by a pair of tiny hands tugging at his cape. He blinked, looking down and at the wide innocent eyes of a small child.

  “You beat a bunch of bad guys today again, right mister Ten?!” asked the kid, tugging at the metallic wear with a bit more force and cracking a wide grin. The child was holding a marketable plushie that vaguely looked like Ten in his hand, waving it around. The hero smiled softly, his cold and uncaring expression melting away, leaning down to pat the child on her head. He was a bit annoyed that Eight had allowed companies to begin producing merchandise of him without his consent, but he’d complain about that to her directly on another occasion. “Yes I did, child,” Ten proudly puffed his chest, “I brought them all to justice, just like it says on the toy’s box, right?” How silly for the toy to give me a made up catchphrase. I guess it’s to make it more merchandisable. The kid giggled and pumped her fists, doing a small hop. “But I have to go now, little one. The good guys always have work to do, you know?” Ten continued, pushing the child away gently. The little girl pouted, but ultimately sighed and turned around to walk away. Ten’s smile faltered the moment the kid had turned around, his eyes losing all warmth. I’m glad you look up to me, young one. Makes me proud of what I do. He thought, swishing his hand to open the car door for him and stepping inside, giving the driver an acknowledging nod before flicking the door closed with a movement of his fingers. It’s sad that there’s so many others that look up to some of the insufferable people I call coworkers. The driver acknowledged him back with a short nod as well, although her expression was troubled and she was biting her lower lip. “Sir,” the woman began, turning the engine on and immediately flooring the pedal, much to the hero’s surprise as he was rocked in his seat before he could put on the seatbelt, letting out a surprised gasp, “I apologize for my current behavior, but please look at the news.” Ten steadied himself by grabbing onto the chair in front of him, his eyes narrowing in anger as he turned to look at the driver with a twitching left eye, but took a deep breath slowly to calm himself. “This better be good,” he complained, reaching out and turning the radio on.

  “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY BROADCAST!!!” suddenly roared from the channel where he normally liked to hear classical music, not having even put on the news channel yet. Ten raised an eyebrow in interest. “Number Eight has OFFICIALLY called on all members of the Celestial Ten to assemble at the New York Association office!! As the situation develops, estimates by experts show that the casualties are expected to be even higher than the Paris incident thirty years ago!!!” Ten pursed his lips, his eyes flaring with incandescent white light. I see. He turned to look at the still very nervous yet determined driver as she weaved through traffic with a level of precision only seen in experts. We must be going to the airport, then. I imagine Six is already preparing our “transportation.” It’s fine, I can just visit my mom tomorrow. After all, it seems that this week’s little Celestial-get-together is gonna happen sooner than expected. Ten chuckled softly at his own joke. The driver turned to look at him in worry for a split second, wondering if the hero had finally gone crazy.