Ed and Yuki crashed through the 25th floor of a nearby building and tumbled on the ground. Both were knocked unconscious as small bits of lightning danced over their bodies.
…
An hour before the nightmare attack.
A man who looked to be middle-aged was sitting in his living room drinking a beer. He had spiky blond hair and wore a bright orange t-shirt. It contrasted heavily against his black jeans. His blue eyes stared outside, bored as could be.
"Earnest" A high-pitched voice rang out. His mother stood in front of him while smiling. She looked even younger than him. "How's the job hunt going?"
"Going great. I start next week." He replied.
"Really?! Great! I'll cook something special up for dinner!"
"Sure." He smiled while nodding.
'I didn't really find a job though…' He had a secret he kept from his mother, though she probably knew anyways since it was obvious. He was an esper and a damn powerful one at that. Many organizations tried recruiting him when he awakened his powers, but they all failed. He was labeled as the fastest esper alive. The government practically begged for him to assist during nightmare attacks, but he firmly refused.
'If only my power was actually superspeed' He sighed. 'I'd probably be more loved than OP Baldy. Being a celebrity sounds kind of fun, I guess.' Suddenly, a loud siren began going off throughout the city.
"Eh?" His mom popped out from the kitchen. "Is there a mutant flood? We should evacuate."
"Right." He nodded in agreement. He would never risk his mother's life over something like this. Other people that lagged behind when the sirens rang out every few years pissed him off more than anything.
The duo immediately rushed out the home and began to head towards their local shelter. There were several massive underground shelters throughout the city that could shield them from such attacks. They headed for the most northern shelter since it was closest.
Others could be seen doing the same as them. Some rushed in panic, but most were extremely calm and leisurely. It was rare for a mutant flood to ever get past the many lines of defense a big city like Atlanta had.
They reached the shelter within 15 minutes and went inside. It was completely hidden underground with the only entrance being some steps. The inside looked like a giant steel and concrete dome. He pulled his mother towards the back and secured some blankets before it began getting crowded.
A soldier arrived at the shelter and demanded silence. It was hard to hear him in the back, but his voice echoed off the walls. "The Lightning Nightmare will be here soon. Please stay away from the walls due to the conductive properties of electricity…" He continued to explain some more things they should take note of.
'The Lightning Nightmare?!' Earnest's eyes widened in surprise. 'For such a thing to attack my home… Is it karma for refusing to help others in need when I had the power to do so?'
He pulled his mother closer to the center of the shelter and they huddled together. The sirens couldn't be heard very well underground, which was nice. However, the many people chatted away and their voice echoing off the walls was a very loud and frustrating experience.
Time continued to pass and they soon heard loud thunder outside. 'Has it arrived?' The ground shook several times as they waited in the dark. The attack continued for nearly an hour when the ground shook extremely heavily compared to the previous times. Loud creaking and crackling sounds rang out from the northern part of the shelter as a huge silver fist that flowed with plasma and electricity tore through the shelter wall.
The light from the fist was practically blinding. Snakes of electricity shot out and killed all those near the fist. A lake of plasma formed on the north side of the shelter before the fist slowly lifted back up.
Earnest's eyes widened in shock as this occurred. He kept a hand on his mother's shoulder, ready to save her should the need arrive. When the nightmare's fist pulled back, large debris fell to the floor before revealing the sky.
Espers could be seen flying in the sky while desperately putting everything on the line to protect them. Some were zapped to ashes without accomplishing anything.
"FUCK!!!" Earnest heard a man in the air yell. A youth with a burn-scar over his left eye hovered there with flames shooting from all four of his limbs. He looked panicked at the nightmare in front of him. It was charging a silver lightning orb that was aimed at both the flying youth and the shelter. Suddenly, a large explosion of green flames appeared in front of the youth as he shot off in another direction. The wave of fire also slammed into the nightmare, delaying it for just a second. The nightmare lifted its arm to adjust aim towards the youth as he flew away instead of aiming at the shelter.
'Someone my age is actually willing to fight that thing?! To take such a big risk just to buy us time and make the nightmare aim elsewhere?' Earnest clenched his fist as it shook. 'Yet I cowardly sit here because I'm afraid to die. I'm far more powerful than that esper. Far more powerful than almost every esper. He watched as the silver orb fired forward in the direction the youth had flown away. Boom! He felt the ground shake while loud thunder-like sounds rang in his ears.
'Is… Is that kid dead? The stranger that gave everything to save us. To save my mom.' He felt a tug on his sleeve and his mother looked him dead in the eyes. He had never seen her with such a serious face. Her voice trembled, "Can you help them?"
Tears appeared in his eyes as he embraced his mother. His voice cracked as he barely managed to whisper to her, "I love you."
He stepped back and his mother stood completely still with a loving look in her eyes. It wasn't just her that was still. Everyone in the shelter was incapable of movement. The nightmare outside was frozen in place as well. Birds hovered in the air while completely still.
'My powers earned me the nickname as the fastest man alive. Forget recruiting me, the organizations that tried couldn't even catch me unless I let them. Unfortunately, my power is not speed.' He picked up his mother and began to make his way through the crowd of people. He jogged for nearly 15 minutes before reaching a railway station. He set his mother on a train and turned around to head back to the shelter.
He picked up another person from the shelter and began to repeat the process. 'I read once that espers don't age unless they're still in adolescence. This is blatantly false information that I relied upon too heavily. I am technically only seventeen years old this year. I only awoke my powers two years ago, but I already look far older than my mother. This is because I overused my powers.'
He set another person down on the train as his thoughts wandered throughout the many years of his life. The train was now full. He walked towards the front and pulled a lever. The train traveled south away from the nightmares attacks. Fortunately, the entire track still seemed to be in one piece for the moment.
'My power is not superspeed. Nor is it the ability to stop time as I once thought. That would take too much power and basically be impossible on a large-scale. My power is simply to accelerate time around myself to an unbelievable degree. To others I move extremely fast, but in reality I move at normal speeds.' The train sped forward out of the city. He stopped at the nearest city after only thirty minutes. He unloaded the people on the train and headed back. There, he began to gather the next batch.
'I went wild with my powers when I first got them. I committed petty crimes. I stole some money, peaked on some girls, and other such things. In all honesty, I think I controlled myself pretty well. I didn't steal much, and I didn't actually hurt anyone or violate them. But before I knew it I already looked like a middle-aged man. How much time did I actually spend using my powers? I stopped keeping track after 20 years. I didn't seem to have aged at that point yet.' He continued putting people on the train and sending them back.
Several dozen years flashed by in what felt like an instant to others. 'Damn. This would be so much easier if my powers allowed me to accelerate time around others as well. Why'd it have to only work on myself and objects?' He laid atop a building while munching on a donut. He lazily wasted a month without helping anybody in order to have some time to himself.
'It's a good thing I can absorb mana even while using my powers like this. It doesn't use much power actually. I'm only accelerating time around myself, so it's not like it's a large-scale endeavor except for when I move the trains.' He finished his long break and got started again. He had finished the shelter he stayed in a long time ago.
'I wonder how my mother would feel if she knew I was going to die for saving everyone left in Atlanta…' He began to work on another northern shelter that was closer to the center of the city. 'I guess it's nice I'm saving Atlanta culture and all that. Best fried chicken in the world. That's my opinion anyways.'
The years continued to wear on. He stopped counting how many people he saved after a million. All had been moved to nearby cities by train. His blond hair was getting more and more streaks of gray and white as wrinkles appeared on his face. He took frequent breaks. Usually they lasted days, but some lasted nearly a year. He often thought of quitting. He had already saved his mother after all. But he kept thinking of her face when she asked him to help.
'I wonder if I'll find the remains of that boy?' He sighed to himself. He had thought of this thousands of times over the years. The boy even younger than him that gave everything to protect them had left a vivid image in his mind. It was so much easier to ignore when espers helped people in faraway places, but the youth with the burn-scar was so close to home.
Over 250 years passed in total. He now looked like a bald old man covered in wrinkles. He stood in downtown, which had some of the worst damage so far. This area took him longer as he had to be careful of the many injuries people had. He found a man collapsed with a broken leg. He promptly carried him away.
He had slowly gone through every building, nook, and cranny of the entire city. No one in the world could possibly know it as well as him by now. There were only a few buildings left in downtown. He worked his way up to the 25th floor of a building and saw two people lying down while injured. "I found him!" A broad grin appeared on his old wrinkled face. 'To think I'd be inspired by such a young brat, haha! Ah, well I'm not much older than him technically… The years must be getting to me.'
He glanced at the girl who laid beside the young man. He chuckled while picking them both up. "Heh, damn kids. Showing off in front of this old man who's about to die a virgin." He happily carried them downstairs while whistling a tune to himself.
'That just leaves the espers.' He looked at them. Some were still flying in the sky. He carried away the ones on the ground or rooftops with ease. The ones in the air he could do nothing about. He thought about creating a way to climb up to them, but he simply didn't have enough time.
"Ugh!" He groaned while rubbing his aching back. A determined look appeared on his face as his voice trembled, "Only one thing left to do." He grinned to himself, 'Heh, I'll be famous for this. I wonder if I can inspire others like I was on that day.' He thought back fondly on the years. He had practiced his sketching frequently over time. He walked into a library and carried a large stack of fliers.
There were three images sketched on the fliers. His own face was in the center, his mother on the left, and the youth that inspired him on the right. Below was a description of his powers and how he had saved everyone in the city. He credited his mother and the unknown youth as having inspired him to do so. He explained how the youth had almost sacrificed everything to save the people in their shelter. That he was incredibly thankful to both and he had no regrets remaining in the world. He had lived a very long and lonely life, but he was happy. Lastly, was a note to espers explaining that he believed their lifetime limit was somewhere around 500 years.
He passed the fliers out through multiple cities and left some behind in Atlanta in case others returned. Then he happily remained by his mother's side for the few years he had left. He thought about stopping his powers at that point to return to the world of normalcy. But he didn't. He couldn't bring himself to have his mother see his aged face while he was still alive. He didn't want to bask in the glory that would follow. Somehow, he felt becoming a martyr may inspire others to follow in his footsteps in the future. Surviving would ruin that plan.
The years went quickly. He hugged his mother one last time. He thought of his deceased father for the first time in a very, very long time. 'Did I live up to my name as you hoped, father?' A single tear slid down his cheek. He put on a nice black suit and hat as he walked upstairs. He had settled his mother into this two-story house that was for sale, so no one currently lived here. He laid in a simple white bed upstairs and closed his eyes.
His breathing slowed down as he appeared to sleep. Several hours later, his heart finally stopped. Time no longer accelerated around him. He had returned to normalcy. A small grin was on his resting face. The rest of the world began to move once more.