"W-What the hell is this!? Why's my hand stuck to the door!?"
"It's my Saturn. I can create a chilling cold from my body and inflict it onto any target I touch. Of course, I can control how cold I can make it, this should be as cold as ice in a cool summer drink. Nothing major, as it's more of a warning shot than anything, so I ask you again... do you have what I have?"
The door began to shake violently as my arrows attempted to force themselves into the direction of the wall to bust it open, stacking the arrows atop each other. Naomi watched with a quizzical expression as the door fired open, the ice around my hand being destroyed in the process. "Not a fan of these newer age interrogation methods, miss. Could you maybe turn down the intensity a little?"
"So you do... You have something similar to my ability. But what does it do? What do you call it? Let's make it an exchange."
"What are you getting at?"
"In exchange for me telling you about my ability, you tell me about yours, including its name."
I've exposed myself, no turning back. "Okay... an exchange, I can work with that."
"I'll state this now, though, information on my 'Boon' is exceptionally valuable, so I'll need a bit more than just your ability, please? For example, what happened during that day? What caused you to cause so much damage to the School's Property?"
I sighed, "Okay... sure. But you have to go first, okay?"
Naomi put a finger to her lips, "Not here, I'll bring us somewhere quieter, okay?"
"O-Okay...?"
Naomi led me to a Karaoke Lounge downtown, renting out and slipping into one of the private rooms. It was my first time in a place like this, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous being alone with the Naomi Rascean in the same room as me, especially in such a closed space like this one. The Ice Queen herself sat before me, legs crossed. I stood awkwardly, looking for a good place to sit, before she motioned for me to sit right beside her.
I nervously placed myself down next to her, and she leaned toward me. Shivers ran up my arm and neck as she got closer. "Stop moving away, I need to make sure this doesn't go out, and this is the best position for this."
"O-Okay..." I leaned into whispering distance with her.
"My ability isn't just controlling the temperature to make things colder..."
"W-What else is it?" I audibly gulped, breaking into a cold sweat, feeling as if I were about to see a dirty secret, never meant to see the light of day.
I was unfamiliar with the world of these 'Boons', that Naomi referred to, or 'Banes' as that Alakazam fellow had described, but what she had said to me made me realize how much potential these abilities had. I didn't quite grasp it before, but now that I heard it from her lips, the extent of her abilities, I understood. I'm unable to say it now, but maybe someday in the future I will. To put it simply, though, I wouldn't be surprised if, out of everyone who may have similar abilities to the two of us, she'd be the strongest.
"T-That's wild... I'm amazed."
"You... you have been the only other person aside from my own family that I've spoken about this to. Okay?" Her whispers gave me goosebumps.
"Alright, no problem, can we speak normally now?"
She pulled back, "Yes."
"Uh... I guess I'll tell you my thing then. It isn't nearly as special but, y'know, it's somethin'." I blinked, watching as she began ordering on a tablet that was provided to every room, "Uh... hungry?"
"Yes-- go on, continue."
"Okay, so... my ability is this." I take out my 'Boon', the rabbit floating in the air, right next to me, "Lateralus, that's what I call it."
"What does it do?"
I took out one of the arrows, "I'm able to touch objects, placing these things all the while to propel, and add inertia to an object. There are limits, but that's the general idea of my ability. From what I can tell, all I can do right now is slow down objects and repel them back, and accelerate objects in a specific direction. I can only place down four arrows at a time."
"I see..." A receptionist who worked at the Karaoke Place barged in, placing down various drinks along with a wide assortment of food. "Indulge if you'd like."
"T-Thanks?" I took a bite from the closest bowl of wings to me, "Not too crazy, right?"
"Your ability sounds as if it'd have a lot of potential, but its potential is blocked by something," Naomi shrugged, "What that could be, that isn't for me to judge, or figure out for that matter. It's entirely up to you. I'm not psychic after all."
"Fair," I sighed, "Hope there is more, but... honest? I'm sort of satisfied as it is. It's allowed me to change."
"That isn't true. All it's done is make you realize that you can change."
"What do you mean?"
"It is a sign of progress, but you misinterpret it to be almost like some sort of divine message from a higher being to become better, rather than accepting this as your own will. This is a show that you are much stronger than you believe yourself to be."
"Fair... you know more about these things than I do, so I'll trust what you gotta say over my biased assumptions." I chuckled.
"What happened two days ago?"
I groaned a little at the thought of recanting what happened that day but I sucked it up and said it, at least what was my interpretation at the time. "I know it sounds bad, but sometimes I like to wander around the school after dark. They don't really lock anything aside from the main gates, so I typically just jump over the wall and wander around. I like exploring places without people sometimes, it's a hobby. I thought it was going to be a normal night until I heard something in the nearby gymnasium-- one of the offshoot buildings near the blacktops. There I... this sounds like bullshit but I found a body."
Naomi's interest was visibly piqued, her eyes meeting mine.
"It was a young woman, around... I dunno, probably 5'5", 5'6", red hair, had a hammer through the skull. Blood was pooling around her body. It looked like she'd been there for a solid minute or two. Suddenly, her body snapped to attention as if she was resurrected right in front of me, a full-on zombie walkin' amongst us, so I rightfully booked it. I ran, got cut off by another one of those fuckers and encountered something that called itself a cadever named Alakazam. It said its master was nearby, and that it was a 'Bane.' I didn't know what that meant, so I just continued running for my life."
A beat.
"I ran as far as I could until I was cornered in one of the science classrooms by all of these fuckin' undead guys that kept cutting off every path of escape and shit." I sighed, catching my breath, "During this, I figured out that I had my ability, Lateralus. I used that to escape."
"You said that it called itself a 'Bane'?"
"Yeah, sort of."
"A murder on campus as well... this is bad, much worse than I thought it was going to be. This 'Alakazam' said it had a master, yes?"
"Yeah."
"We've not much of a choice then but to find the perpetrator, no?"
"I suppose we don't, huh?" I smiled, glad that she said the quiet part out loud. Knowing I had an ally in this caused the muscles in my body to relax significantly. "What would be the first thing we'd look into, though?"
"That truly is the question of all time. Judging by the fact that you essentially caught them in the act, I don't suspect that they'd be causing another murder on campus anytime soon."
"Where would we even start..." I mumbled to myself, cupping my chin with my hand. "You're much more familiar with detective work than I am. What do you think?"
Naomi looked as if she were about to speak up before stopping herself, looking at the door. She stood up, pressing herself flat up against the door itself, causing a wave of cold to encompass it. A thump could be heard in response, the door shaking against the writhing force behind it. Naomi pushed the door open, peeking her head out, seeing a receptionist stuck against the glass of the door, struggling to release themselves from Naomi's freezing grasp.
I look curiously over her shoulder, "What's going on?"
"Eavedropper. Do I know you?"
The Receptionist looked panicked for a moment before quickly steeling themselves, "What were you talking about? What was that about?"
"That's private business."
"Figured, just wanted to waste your time," They smirked, the door bent against an unknown force that suddenly took the form of a robotic figure wearing baggy pants and a beanie, headphones set on the sides of its head. "I wanted to hear some spicy shit but got nothing, so the best next thing is taking the Student Council President and their new little dog down a peg, yeah?"
"This normal?" I pointed out the question to Naomi.
"Hasn't happened in a long while. Hidden gangs used to flood the schools here until I took them out along with the Disciplinary Committee, but it appears there are still some remnants from those times."
The door snaps violently against the machine's explosive body, "WRK, that's my Boon. I'll beat yer asses! I swear it!"
"This guy's nuts." I chuckled.
Naomi sighed, "I'll handle it. It'd be best we ended this conflict quickly before we catch too many eyes." A crowd had begun to grow on both sides of the hall we stood in.
"Nah... I'll take care of it, this guy seems like a poser."
He took great offense to that, "The hell did you say about me, stalking fuck!?"
Tsk. I took a couple of steps forward, getting into a stance.
"You'll fight them?" Naomi asked.
"Yeah, I'll get it done quick, I swear."
"Bitch!" He screamed, his ability's fist rocketing toward my head. I weaved to the side, swinging back, hitting him straight in the forearm, guarding his head, the accelerated impact of my punch causing him to stumble into the nearby wall with a gasp. Before he could form his next thought, I accelerated a front kick straight into his solar plexus, forcing him straight into the ground, clutching his gut desperately, his Boon dissapating in response.
"I forgot, both your Mom and Dad are very particular about Martial Arts, aren't they?"
"Yeah, now let's get out of here."
Naomi nodded, and we absconded from the Karaoke Lounge. As we wandered the streets of Downtown Inastro, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as it appeared that no one had been following us outside the building we had just left.
Naomi noticed my anxiety, "No need to be so alert. Not yet, at least."
"Not very comforting."
"You did good work."
"Thanks for the compliment, milady."
"No problem, I'll make sure to award you more thoroughly next time."
"What would you reward me with?"
She paused, thinking for a moment, "I could etch my autograph into your back."
I was startled for a moment, "I-Is that a joke?"
"Of course, I would never do that to someone. It would take way too much time, and it could stain my hands with blood... lest I use a tattoo gun? I'm unfamiliar with such technology, though."
"You're a lot odder than I originally believed you to be."
"What did you expect from me?"
"Uh... I dunno really... maybe to carry a more regal air about you, or something."
"That's boring."
"I concur, I prefer this more." I chuckled.
"Good to know that my charms are working."
"The way you say that makes me think that you have actual charms. Do you make charms?"
"My Grandmother does."
"Not the greatest thing to say in response."
"Hold."
We stopped, our banter coming to a halt. Naomi pointed to the figure that stood before us, a young man with sunken eyes and stringy black hair wearing a blue tracksuit, staring at us from afar as... that magician creature from before, Alakazam, stood next to them. I didn't imagine it would be this soon that I could meet the user, but here they are, standing right out in front of me. They aren't rotting, they aren't undead... that's our guy.
"You recognize them."
"That's probably our guy, that thing next to him, that's Alakazam!"
The creature bowed as the undead began seeping out from the surrounding alleyways. The neurotic man who stood beside that 'Bane' gnawed at their thumbnail, a deadly glare pointed straight at the two of us.
"I wanted to see it..." The young man spoke up in a raspy tone, "I wanted to bear witness to you all being slaughtered by my zombies. I collected quite a few..."
The undead scrambled toward us in a violent fervor as the neurotic user of Alakazam began making their leave, breaking out into a sprint.
"Fuck!" I yelled out, getting ready to run from the group of zombies rushing down at us. In comparison, Naomi held a calm expression, approaching the group at a leisurely pace. I didn't bother to interrupt her because if I were in her range, I'd have been affected as well, the area around her being enraptured by a deep cold, freezing the zombies in place instantly.
"Chase the user, I'll occupy the fodder."
"Alright!" I got on all fours, the arrows now attached to my hands and feet, sending me forward, hovering me quickly across the ground in order to catch up with the escaping murderer who is just about now rounding the corner.
He ducked behind cover, and I returned on my feet, rounding the corner with him, a crowd of people greeting me.
A needle in a haystack.