"I saw a story about me on tv the other day. They gave me the name 'Thunder'. Should I stick with it?"
"I like it," Caitlyn answers.
"I do, too," I agree. "I've also been thinking about putting a logo or something on my jacket."
"Like what? A lightning bolt?"
"Yeah, in the shape of a 'T'," I add.
Caitlyn kicks off the ground, pushing her swing forward. The two of us aren't alone at the park; a mother and three young children are off to the other side. A little girl giggles as she rides down a slide and two little boys chase each other in what appears to be a game of tag.
I take my backpack off, set it on the ground beside me, and push off the ground to get my swing moving. I'm not entirely sure why Caitlyn and I still come to the park like this; it's just tradition from when we were younger, I guess. It's also a good place to get away and just talk, because most of the time, no one else is here. When we were little, we always competed to see who could make their swing go higher, and just for the heck of it, we still play that game today.
Using a little bit of my super speed to kick against the ground, I make my swing fly higher than Caitlyn's after just a couple cycles of back and forth. I remember being young and pretending to fly every time I sat on a swing. It really doesn't compare to the actual feeling of flight; nothing compares to the incredible sensation of gravity seeming to not exist.
"Cheater!" Caitlyn says in fake anger.
I smirk at her. "What are you talking about? How does one cheat at swinging?"
"I don't know. Maybe by being struck by lightning."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just admit you lost today."
"I will never admit defeat to a cheater!" Childishly, she sticks her tongue out at me. Both of us laugh and continue swinging.
The boys' game of tag has brought them out by the road. The mother is busy caring for the young girl who appears to have gotten a scrape on her knee. At the same instant, I see a vehicle driving clearly faster that the 25 mile per hour speed limit in this area.
The mother then notices the absense of her other children. "Thomas, Daniel?" She turns to find one boy all the way across the street and the other beginning to cross, but a blue car is heading straight towards the boy. "Thomas, no!" she screams.
My feet touch the ground, and I immediately speed out of the swing to rescue the child. I zoom to the other side of the park and out onto the road. Without slowing down, I scoop the boy up off the road and bring him to safety across the street. The car races by just a split second after. I run back and set the boy by his mother. Enough time hasn't passed yet for the mother to realize that her boy wasn't hit by the car, but as I zoom away before I'm seen, she sees the little child in front of her.
I swipe my bag from beside the swingset and run behind a building to throw my outfit on. Maybe 10 seconds later, I fly out into view, looking for the blue car. It's a couple blocks away, still speeding. I fly to the car, unsure of what exactly I'm going to do.
I land on the hood of the car, surprised that I managed to land without falling. I steady myself by placing my hands on the windshield. "Hey! Stop! You're going too fast. You nearly killed a little kid back there! Stop!!" I scream at the driver through the windshield.
The bald man at the wheel jumps at my sudden appearance in front of him, but he doesn't stop. Instead, he turns on the windshield wipers, trying to make me move. The blades hit my hands weakly and don't cause me to move an inch. I almost laugh at the pathetic attempt to get rid of me, but instead I keep shouting at him to stop.
When his first attempt to remove me from the car fails, he begins swerving, and the man succeeds at knocking me off the car. I land on my back in a ditch, the wind knocked out of me. Groaning, I push myself up and run at the car. I grab onto the rear bumper and run backwards, trying to slow the vehicle down. I succeed at preventing the blue car from moving forward for a moment, but the wheels continue to spin. My hands slip and the car powers away. I admit defeat, honestly unsure of how I would stop a speeding car.
I can't do everything...
Ignoring the soreness in my back, I speed back to the park. The mother holds the boy close to her, while the other children stand by her side. "Tommy, don't you ever scare me like that again." Tears streak her face. She notices me. "You saved my son?" her shaky voice asks.
I nod in reply.
"What's your name?"
"Thunder," I say, officially accepting the name.
"Thank you, Thunder," the boy, Thomas, says.
I smile. "You're welcome."
"Thank you," the mother says.
I nod and prepare to leave. I fly up, waving goodbye at the small group. I turn to zoom away and gasp in surprise when a figure flies straight at me, hitting me, causing me to tumble out of control and crash onto the ground near the swingset. A frightented Caitlyn jumps off her swing and runs away. The mother picks up her daughter and runs, her sons following her. All of them watch the action from a somewhat safe distance away.
As I begin to stand, the figure comes towards me for another attack. I fall back to the ground to avoid being hit as it flies over me. I roll over and jump to my feet, ready for the next attack. I quickly adjust my slightly offset mask, and I finally get a good look at the figure overhead.
It's a person; I assume it's male. A mask covers the entire face, with a small device attached near the mouth. The suit he wears is made of a dark grey material. He wears large shoes that appear to be giving him the ability of flight. They aren't rockets or jets, but it appears as though the shoes are pushing air out of them.
I ignore the increasing pain in my back from slamming onto the ground, twice now, and I fly up to be level with my attacker. The person comes at me, but I push my hands forward, sending a gust of wind at him. It slows him down and sends him off course.
"Who are you?" I demand, ready to send another wind attack if I need to.
The person steadies himself in the air and answers in an electronic deep voice. "My identity is not your concern."
The device on the mask must disguise his voice, I realize.
"Then what the heck do you want?"
"That is also none of your concern. Surrender, and I won't have to hurt you," the robotic voice says.
"What makes you think I can't fight back?" I challenge. I have no clue who this person is or what he wants, but I feel like I could probably stop him fairly easily.
He charges at me again, but seeing him coming gives me the advantage, and I easily dodge the attack. Once he is behind me, I turn, grab his leg, and pull him down toward the ground. He tries to fly upward and our opposite actions cause us to spin in midair. I lose my grip and begin falling but steady myself, still several feet above the ground.
He is still spinning. Before he has the chance to gain control, I shoot another gust of wind at him. He slams into the metal swingset and hits the rocky ground. "Ah!" the electronic voice groans.
I land slowly but steadily on my feet and walk cautiously toward my attacker. He lies on his back, trying to sit up. As a precaution, I let electricity build up on both of my hands. "Don't make me use this," I say, holding my hands forward. I honestly don't want to use lightning on someone directly because I'm afraid that I won't be able to control it and I might actually end up killing someone.
"Okay, okay. I surrender," he says, scooting away from me. I make the electricity grow weaker, but don't stop it completely. He plants his feet on the ground and stands, holding his hands out in surrender. I don't let my guard down.
Suddenly, in one quick motion, he activates his boots and zooms into the air, fleeing from the fight. I don't have the desire or strength to follow, but I watch as he leaves, making sure he doesn't come back.
"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!" I turn to find Thomas cheering. Soon the other boy and the mother join in. Caitlyn begins cheering, also.
I smile and wave goodbye at the little crowd. I fly into the air, speeding so I disappear. I change direction and go to where I left my backpack. I quickly take my suit off and stuff it into the bag. I sit down, leaning my back against the building. I take a few deep breaths to calm my pounding heart.
The adrenaline from the rescue and attack subsides, and the full extent of the pain I'm in hits me. I can nearly guarantee that I have a large bruise on my back, and my guess is that I'm going to be in even more pain tomorrow.
Though it does hurt, my injured back isn't the thing at the front of my mind. I rest my head against the wall, looking up at the clouds in the sky, and speak quietly to myself. "Who the heck was that?"
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Hey!! Sorry it took me like a month to put this chapter up. I've been insanely busy with school and activities. Anyway, I'll try to update again as soon as I can. Thanks for reading! Talk to you guys later.