Chapter 9: Chapter 9 – Living incognito
Olanchito, Honduras
6 months later
Six months, this confrontation that made of him one of the most wanted persons on the planet happened six months ago. At first, he didn't remember it, his mind gone in overdrive, and all the powers kept in check by Rickmer's restriction were lifted at once. A pretty good reason to have your mind in shamble.
During these six months, reminiscence of these events came to his mind, and after his escape from the laboratory where he was brought to, he had several occasions to watch TV. The images broadcast on the news channels were impressive, Aiden literally razes a one-kilometer radius of Manhattan to the ground.
He had several occasions to test the new limits of his telekinesis. He could now reach the atomic scale, an impressive prowess, testing these limits was the most fun he had during these months. Destruction, separating molecules was pretty easy, a good push and it fall apart, it was like kicking a sandcastle or blowing a house of cards.
On the other hand, creation was insanely difficult, unlike destruction, he had to put atoms together one after the other to create the molecules. Then he had to put them together to create the good shape, but it requires millions, if not billions of it, in the end, while trying to create a glass, he passed out from exhaustion.
It 's been almost four months since he settled here in Honduras. Before coming, he made some research about all the countries of central America and finally chose Honduras.
Beautiful scenery, drugs lords running rampant, prostitution, extremely high criminality rate, and almost no sighting of Super Heroes, except maybe Flash once in a while. He was searching for a place where he could stay hidden, so a country where criminality was high and where there were no heroes was the best place. It could become his backyard, after his fight against the founding members of the Justice League, his confidence in his fighting abilities skyrocketed, even if he didn't really fight against Flash.
If he came earlier, the fight would have had another end. Who can fight against someone who can punch you several hundred times before you can react? Even with his precognition, he can't imagine himself winning with his previous limited abilities. Now, the odds were higher, but still not great.
Except this, no one came after him, maybe the Doctor Fate hidden him from tracking spell, because the Justice League didn't came knocking at his door. As for the tracker that Lex Luthor made him drink, he detected and destroyed it once he had a good grasp over his new powers.
"Hey, Daniel little brat. What kind of joke are you plotting today?" Leaving his house, he saw the boy he befriended in the four months since he came here.
"Nothing. I am perfect boy. The best of the best." He said grinning while watching Aiden preparing to leave his house.
The boy was around ten years old, with tanned skin, a bright smile and malicious eyes. He met him when he moved in. After organizing his affairs, which were literally holding in a bag pack, he heard knocking at his door, opening it, a bucket of water was spilled on him. He could have avoided it, but it was just a prank. Seeing the hidden boy giggling just under his window. He took a glass of water and spilled it on the boy.
"Gott'ya, little loser." He thought the boy would cry, or counter-attack, but he laughed so much he fell on his butt.
"What are you laughing at?"
"You. It's so funny. Your way of talking is hilarious." Pointing his finger at him, the boy said. In truth, Aiden's accent was absolutely horrible. After that incident, the boy helped Aiden practice his Spanish, and Aiden told him how it was to live abroad.
Aiden put on color contact lenses, dyed his hair blond and let them grow long during his travels before settling in Honduras. Today, he was wearing an old jean and a shirt with sunglasses hanging at his shirt collar.
"Why don't you cut your hairs? You look stupid." The boy said to him once again, it was his way to greet Aiden.
"You told this to me almost a million time since I moved in. When will you change your catchphrase?"
"When you will be cut your hair and you don't look like the creepy guy in the neighborhood anymore. I don't know how can my sister have a crush on you." That boy was nice but so irritating at the same time.
"Want to come with me to the market? I have to buy something to eat before starving to death." Locking the door behind him, he asked the prankster boy while ignoring his comments.
"Why not? Lucas is with his father doing business." Putting his hand behind his head, the boy followed him while whistling.
Passing through the streets, they watch the scenery around them. To Aiden who was born in the U.S, it was strange at first, the country his poor, and the criminality rate is not helping to improve the living conditions of the peoples.
(It's strange, at first, I almost felt at home. If Batman wasn't in Gotham, it would probably look like that.)
While walking, they passed by an old playground in a sorry state. They were climbing frames for children, broken in some places. Swings covered in rust, making a horrible sound when the wind pushed it. A bit further away, a sports field, with old goalposts covered in dust and above them basketball hoop frame suspended. One of them with a missing hoop.
Several boys were playing soccer on the playground with an old soccer ball.
"Eduardo, you could have told me you were playing soccer." Daniel, the little king of prank made his way toward his brother Eduardo.
"You were sleeping like a log. Wake up earlier next time." The boy said the other boy, with the ball in hand.
"Now I'm here. See you next time Creepy guy." He waved his hand at Aiden before kicking the ball out of his brother hands.
"I hope you'll lose."
Aiden made his way toward the market to buy fruits and maybe fishes. Life in Honduras was simple, most of the time. The only time Aiden had problems was when gang members attacked someone in the middle of the street while he was shopping.
That time, he chose to hide and let nature take it course. Since that fateful day six months ago, he was putting his vision of the world and his moral code in question. Everything changed, all he knew was false and he chose to re-evaluate his past and future.
What would he do? Hide for the rest of his life? Use his power to make money and become a tycoon here, away from his past? Create an alter-ego and become a hero? Everything was confused. So, he chose to take it slow to put this whole issue in perspective.
At the market, he bought several exotic fruits and talked with some people he became friend with in the time he was here. At the beginning his accent was an advantage, it makes people laugh.
He headed back home after buying everything he needed. On the way, he saw Daniel scoring before laughing at his brother. Too bad, he wouldn't be able to jest the boy.
However, he detected something disturbing not far away, a truck loaded with guns. Several cars were following them, probably other gang members. A hundred meters away, several armed persons were in ambush near the crossroad.
(Fuck!)
"Kids! Hurry and go home!"
"Why, you're annoying creepy g- "
Rattatata
With the sounds of gunshots, the children's started to disperse while crying, afraid to die. Aiden followed them, making sure none of them were running to their death.
Back home, he sat on his bed before turning on the old TV he bought in a pawnshop. His home sweet home was small but sufficing for one person. Changing the screen display to a U.S News channel. He watched as Lex Luthor was once again criticizing the Justice League and other heroes and vigilantes. It was recurrent since his battle in the middle of New-York, Luthor used the destruction created by the fight as an argument to undermine the Justice League popularity.
A well-played move, using him he created an opportunity to attack publicly superheroes. It was a good plan, but their popularity is overwhelming, consequently the situation between the Justice League and governments became strained. Luthor gained the support from political power holders and the peoples for the most parts were siding with heroes.
After his evasion, he saw the first speech of Luthor on this topic. Aiden always knew that Luthor was using him for something, but something was telling him it was not all. Luthor had something else in mind. He had no proof; it was just baseless instinct.
Sigh
"Let's see what is the argument of the League." Opening his laptop, he stole while he was on the run, he checked the arguments of the Justice League. Everything was as usual, same points, heroes save people, avoid destruction. The tormentor was a powerful foe, the damages New-York sustained were unfortunate, but if they didn't act one of the most populated cities of the world would have vanished.
"Hope the consequences of my mistake won't be irreparable." He said out loud while eating a fruit.
Browsing the Internet, he finally searches social networks and found no news of Jessica, his ex-girlfriend. Since the day he saw her so down at school, he was aching for what he did. Consequences fell on his loved ones.
He was checking her account almost every day to see if she was okay. Something he thought could be creepy. After the battle in New-York, she was left with the image of being the ex-girlfriend of one the most wanted person in the world. She was shunned for a long time, but finally she found hope. Two months ago, her social page indicated that she found a boyfriend.
The guy must be really in love with her, knowing the image she had at school and outside. Nonetheless, two weeks later she apparently decided to break up and move out of New-York to start her professional career in fashion. After that, there was no news about her on social network, which worried Aiden, but if there was a problem her adoptive parents would have reacted in some way.
"I'm starting to become paranoiac."
After that, he checked Trent and Barbara. Everything seems normal to their side, Trent lost some clients, but it was soon forgotten. Barbara was a couple with some guy named Dick Grayson for a time, but it didn't last and they broke up. Except that, she got a scholarship from a fund created by Bruce Wayne and become an intern in his company.
"The redhead finally became the top of the class. Only because I left." He sometimes remembers their jesting time with nostalgy, now he has an annoying prankster as his laughing partner.
The night soon came, and with start the troubles. After what happened this morning, he chose to put an end to the gang war, even if it means leaving no witness to keep his tranquil life.
Putting on a black sweat with a hood, he left his house and walked until he was far enough from the public lightings, in sort that no one see him taking off the ground. Saying that this town became his playground wasn't an exaggeration, with the release of the mental shackles six months ago, he became far more powerful. His detection range could now reach several kilometers, but he still had to process the information it provided him.
(A big workshop, that's where they process the drugs. North, a simple house…) He detected several dubious locations, but as he was searching for the headquarters of the several drugs lord, he sensed something happening in the middle of the town. A girl, maybe twelve years old, she was burning literally. She wasn't burned at stake, it was the awakening of a meta-gene, her body was creating flames around her and she couldn't control it, everything was burning around her.
Aiden landed ten-meter away from her while invisible and saw the scene. Someone was talking to her, maybe her father, the girl was slowly calming down as he starts calling her.
Aiden activated his precognition and saw it wouldn't end well…for the girl.
"Dad!" Finally controlling her flame, the young girl jumped in the arms of her father. While holding her, the man was grinning and knocked her out as she was feeling the warmth of her father.
"She is the key to my future! I'll finally become rich! That stupid daughter of mine finally make herself useful!" He was laughing as he betrayed his own daughter.
(This scene and this family betrayal are too familiar to me.)
He watched as the man seated his unconscious daughter in the car and started to drive toward the west end of Olanchito.
(What will he do? Try to sell her to some bastard with weird fetishes?) He was following the car from up in the air and was thinking to what kind of future this asshole was giving to his daughter.
Finally, they arrived at one of the locations Aiden marked as being a gang hideout. The man stopped in front of a grid fence, some goons start to talk to him and finally let him pass. Inside, he carried his daughter on his shoulder.
"Boss Ruiz, this girl is a meta-human, she created the fire downtow-"He couldn't finish his phrase as the boss raised his gun and shot him in the head.
(It was predictable.)
Looking at the dead body of the treacherous father with a bullet hole in the forehead, the gangster said: "Why should I pay you when I can take it from you freely?" Turning toward his men he told them "Dump the body somewhere, lock up the girl in the basement and go catch her mother. I don't want to be burned alive."
Two goons took hold of the hands of the body and began to drag it toward the exit, letting a bloody smear behind.
Aiden was about to step-in, but he felt something coming toward this location. It was flying in the sky at high speed, and in a few seconds came crashing through the ceiling.
A burning woman raised from the dust cloud created by the impact. She was entirely ablaze, and was emitting a burning heat in all the room. The woman was burning green literally, her light green flames were illuminating the dark hideout.
The woman created fireball in her hands and started to attack everyone.
The fight was soon over, she sent fireballs toward the goons, their clothes went ablaze. The poor guys soon started to roll on the ground, or were trying to remove their clothes. Most of them got slight burns, once out of danger, they ran away like rabbits.
Once she sent her fireballs toward them, she put out the fire around her. A beautiful form was revealed, that woman could have been a model. Around 5' 8" in height, light skin, green hairs and green glossy lips. She was wearing a green skintight suit with all sort shades of green and flames symbol.
(Fire, ex- Green Fire, ex-Green Fury. What is she doing here? She should be active in brazil not all of south America.)
Making her way toward the boss, she soon started to beat him up with her hand to hand skills, her style was really efficient. He was soon beaten to a pulp, a punch in the stomach, followed by a heavy kick on the knee and the coup de grâce, an uppercut sent him spinning.
(Why does her fighting style is similar to Batman? He taught her? Impressive, she doesn't rely only on her powers but learnt martial arts to mastery.)
Fire soon made her way to the little girl and wake her up. The girl was drowsy, and lost, seeing the knocked-out boss and the fire damages around, she became frightened.
"Where is my dad?" she asked to the beautiful woman in front of her.
A warm smile appeared on the face of the superheroine as she started to talk to the poor little girl. Lowering herself to the height of the child, she answered her inquiries.
"Hello, I'm Fire. I'm sorry, I couldn't save your father, but I'll take you to your mother. Don't worry, everything will be okay." Fire raised the weeping girl and hold her in her arms before creating fire around her foot and taking off the ground.
Still invisible, Aiden watched the superhero leave with doubt and worry in his mind.
(Strange, usually when meta-humans are discovered, they are brought to a specialized center first then their family are notified. She talked first about the girl's mother, not her powers. Furthermore, their powers are similar, there is a chance that she will make of her a sidekick. If I am right, I hope she will bring her to Brazil, I don't need superheroes in my hideout.
Fire arrived strangely fast, she was surely searching for a protégé since a long time, otherwise she wouldn't arrive so fast for the resolved of a girl case going out of control in the middle of Honduras.)
Looking at the moon by the hole created by Fire spectacular entrance, he chose to resolve the upcoming gang wars later.
(I'll settle this later. Tomorrow morning, I'm sure everyone will talk about Fire coming in this lost town. Let's not add the mysterious disappearance of several local drugs lord.)
Taking off the ground, he made his way back home and finally fell asleep in his bed. Aiden wanted to have a peaceful life for some time, but destiny had something else in mind for him.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Faylan
Faylan In this arc, we’ll talk about Trent past, Jessica, Aiden true origins and several other things. Also, chapters will be shorter (around 2500 to 3000 words by chapter) but the story lenght won't change. Thanks for reading.
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