Scribbles and Drabbles

Returning Home 2

Its was a few weeks later when he next had a brush with Espers—ignoring bumping into Danny a few times. The guy was on the same course as him it seemed. He looked a little less exhausted than that first night. Asher stuck away from him for the most part. He had plans for his life, and they didn't involve getting involved again.

"So what?" You target ordinary students and try to scare them into giving you money?" Asher checked.

It was night; the street lit by harsh orange lamps that gave enough light that Asher hadn't felt in danger walking down. Three brats stood in front of him, wielding spiked baseball bats as weapons and their powers in a distinct pattern. There was a fourth nearby. Asher could hear his breathing. It was just a shame Asher wasn't afraid of punks like them. He hadn't been for a long time.

"That's the general idea," the leader grinned, teeth elongated into fangs. If Asher weren't a former Rebel, it would have been scarier as it was, this brat was nothing. He wasn't a full morph; those were far more dangerous. The worse this one could do was bite. His hands were still human, and he was clutching his bat tight. "Care to play along?"

"What do you do the ones who can't pay?"

"You're the Uni student. Why don't you tell me?"

Asher rolled his eyes and shifted his stance. He was going to have to deal with these. He's heard rumours of Rebels picking on students but wasn't expecting them to pick on him. Psychometry, at the lowest level of being able to tell who was an Esper and who was not, was almost normal in Espers.

"So we have a partial morph, someone with super strength, a chameleon," he gestured over to the hidden one and kept his eyes on the final one. "And what would you be?"

The boy smiled, and his eyes blinked sidewards. Asher shivered. It was something to do with vision, then. His buddies looked a touch more unnerved by Asher's causal naming of their powers. The chameleon shifted, Asher calmly moved out of the way as a pipe came crashing down where he'd just been. The man snarled and twisted, attempting to beat him again. Asher dodged calmly.

"You guys mean to kill poor sods without money then?" Asher nodded to himself, rubbing his fingers together. Annoyance was building at this, bubbling alongside the anger at having his night ruined. If he had to use his powers, he was going to have to lay low for the day. His hair was starting to sparking. A dark voice whispered in his mind. He was under no restrictions not to harm those who tried to hurt him. He could give these Rebs a real taste of their own medicine.

"Not kill, just put in the hospital," one in a bright and cheerful tone. "Killing would get us in trouble."

"This is going to get you in trouble too," Asher smirked.

Electricity exploded from his hands and surged. It was wild, and the screams from the men were harsh. Shaking the charge of his hands, he didn't bother to form his formerly signature whip. The boys were already on the ground, and the scent of urine had appeared. One of them at least had wet themselves at the shock.

"That was quick," he sniffed, unimpressed. "You are weaklings, aren't you?" He kicked one of them over and looked down. "Shouldn't go bullying people if you can't stand the heat."