1 Awakening! (2/2)
Ed glared at him, ”I don't have any. Even if I did, I wouldn't give you one, so you can fuck off. Get a job if you want one so bad, lazy bastards.”
The boy with the piercings smiled and then slammed a kick into Ed's stomach.
”Ugh!” Ed knelt down and held his stomach in pain.
The boy kicked Ed several more times before stopping. He glanced at his friend, ”Andy, go get the bucket we prepared.” Then he turned to look at Jake, ”You. Come over and beat his ass too. The weak need to learn their place. The runt should be grateful I want something from him.”
Jake ran over and started kicking Ed as well. This continued for several minutes until Andy returned with a big bucket. ”Robby, I've got it!”
Robby smiled, ”Good. Let's go.”
Andy, Jake, and Robby walked out of the shed. Robby took the bucket and threw it towards Ed. Dozens of fist-size spiders started climbing out. ”Aghhh! Get off! Get off!” Ed screamed in panic, trying to wipe the spiders off. Several bit him in the process. He dashed for the door, only for it to be slammed in his face. Che-clunk. The sound of a lock being closed echoed.
Robby yelled, ”Enjoy the present! I'll come back to let you out on Monday. I hope you have a good weekend. We'll discuss the scooter business again then!”
Robby walked away while laughing. Andy and Jake followed him. Jake turned to Robby and hesitated a moment before whispering, ”Is this really okay? There's no food or water in that shed?”
”Haha, don't worry about it. The teachers will let him out before the end of the day. They always put away equipment when school closes. They'll find him then. I'm just doing this to scare the brat into submission.”
Jake sighed in relief, ”That's good then. I've gotta get going to my next class. See you guys later!” He waved as he jogged off into the distance.
Robby turned to look at Andy, ”You made sure to let the teacher know you'd handle putting away the gym equipment after school today, right?”
Andy nodded, ”The coach was more than happy to let me do it, so he could leave early.”
Robby grinned, ”Good! See if that brat fights back after spending the whole weekend in that shed.”
Ed was still fighting the spiders in the shed. He managed to kill most of them while the rest scurried off into hiding. He was covered in spider bites. He sighed, ”God damnit. What did I do to deserve this? Maybe I should just make a real steam gun and prepare for jail.”
He tried to open the doors, but all he could do was create a rattling sound. He screamed for help for several minutes, but nobody came. Feeling defeated, he slouched down against the wall and muttered, ”Whatever. The teachers will let me out at the end of the day anyways.” He yawned and slowly drifted off to sleep…
Edward woke up after several hours. Small trails of light drifted into the shed from some finger sized holes on the roof. Ed glanced at his watch, 'Eh? School closed an hour ago? Did they forget to put the gym equipment away?' His stomach made some grumbling noises, causing him to rub his stomach. 'Ugh, I haven't eaten all day. I might as well try to find a way out.'
He looked around the shed. Ordinary sports equipment was scattered on the floor and some tables were in a corner. He setup a table and began to grab things that looked useful to him. He found some ordinary pipes, a crowbar, and a rusty steam lawnmower. It looked like it hadn't been touched in over a decade.
Ed pulled out a swiss army knife from his pocket and dissembled the lawnmower. 'Ugh, this thing is totally trashed! The engine needs oiled and cleaned… or just trashed altogether.' He picked up the crowbar and tried to pry open the shed. 'Damn, this is no good. The entire shed is made of solid metal.'
Giving up, he decided to rest. He laid on the hard floor and slowly drifted off to sleep once again. He awoke in the middle of the night to a loud siren blaring! He got up and looked towards the ceiling. He could see sparks of flame flickering past the roof. He panicked, ”What the hell is going on? Those are the city sirens! They only go off during an emergency that affects the whole city!”
Ed grabbed the crowbar and began banging it against the shed wall. He yelled in frustration, ”Shit! It isn't working!” He threw the crowbar aside and grabbed the fake steam gun he carried in his pocket. He ripped out the flag he used as a prank. Then he grabbed some bolts he took off the lawnmower and shoved them inside. He pushed against the shed doors until he could barely see the lock holding the doors shut. He aimed and slowly squeezed the trigger. Ding! A high-pitched sound rang out. ”Gah!” A small piece of metal ricocheted and hit Ed's hand, causing him to drop the gun in pain. The lock was barely scratched.
The fire started to spread onto the shed. Smoke flowed inside. Bu-bump, Bu-bump, Bu-bump. Ed could hear his heart beating loudly as he gasped for air. The smoke burned his watery eyes, causing his vision to turn blurry. 'What do I do? What do I do?!' He looked at the parts on the table trying to come up with an idea. ”Ugh!” He groaned as some flames caused minor burns on his arm. Bu-bump! Bu-bump! Bu-bump! His heart beat louder and louder. Sweat covered his entire body. He could feel the heat turning his skin red.
Suddenly, time seemed to slow down for Ed. He could feel the world slowing down around him, almost as if time had stopped. The parts he was staring at started to float in midair. The rusty engine separated into many smaller parts, the rust falling off the parts as it happened. Some of the lawnmower scraps melted into molten metal and merged with the damaged parts. Then the engine quickly reassembled.
What was left of the lawnmower quickly distorted, reforming into a large gauntlet. The steam engine welded itself onto the gauntlet, and the lawnmower blade welded onto the piston of the engine. Ed put the gauntlet on and aimed at the nearby wall. The motor rotated, causing the piston to pump back and forth faster and faster! Steam flew out from the back of the engine as the piston-knife jammed repeatedly into the wall! Ed moved the gauntlet in a large circle and managed to cut a big hole in the metal wall. He quickly squeezed through the hole and ran away from the blazing flames.
He reached an area with no flames and slowly calmed down. 'Holy shit. Holy fuck! What the hell! Was that mana I just used? Did I awaken as an esper? I can feel some type of energy flowing into me. What kind of power did I awaken exactly?' As he calmed down, he slowly looked at his surroundings. Flames blazed in the distance as far as the eye could see. The entire city was on fire! The sirens were still blaring, causing Ed to have a headache. His body was aching from the spider bites and the heat from earlier.
”Roar!” Ed heard a sound and turned around. Facing him was a 1.2-meter-tall mutant. It had four claws and dark green skin. Its body was covered in tumor like bumps that spewed a vicious black gas. Sharp teeth jutted out from its mouth. Its eyes were bloodshot as it stared at the boy in front of it.
Ed's eyes widened in fear as he slowly backed away. Suddenly, the mutant lunged at him! He quickly rolled to the side and narrowly dodged the attack. He hurriedly stood up and glanced at his gauntlet. Ba-bump, Ba-bump, Ba-bump! His heartbeat echoed loudly. He screamed, ”Damnit! What the fuck! Let's go!” He charged towards the beast. The gauntlet spewed steam as the piston-knife rapidly shook back-and-forth. He threw a punch at the beast as it opened its mouth to bite him!
”Aghhh!!!” Ed screamed in pain. The mutant bit right onto his right arm, which he had used to punch the beast. However, the steam gauntlet continued to work. The knife hammered repeatedly into the mutant's mouth. Blood splattered everywhere, staining Ed's face and clothes red. The mutant didn't let go and held on stubbornly for several seconds before its eyes grew dark and it collapsed.
Ed grabbed his arm in pain. Blood dripped down from his bite marks. The knife on the gauntlet had snapped in half and was barely useable. He raised his head to look around him. There were dozens of four legged mutants walking towards him from all directions.