Chapter 33: - Potential
"I thought you were joking when you said you hit a skyscraper!" Hyunji yelled. "It says you've killed hundreds of people."
Kenji scratched his head. "I didn't know the damage was that bad. The Galeion just slid through the building like a hot knife through butter. Maybe the Karnekis should've built a more stable building!"
"Aren't the Karnekis the richest family in the universe?" Sofia asked. "They'll kill us if they find us."
"Well at least they don't know who we are. And they have no way of knowing," Hyunji said.
"Oh, wait," the reporter paused. "This just in…the police have found the culprit's ship. It seems…the terrorist Min-jun Quon was onboard. On the dashboard were three pictures. Quon and his family. If you see either of these three people, alert authorities immediately."
Three photos appeared on the screen. The first was Min-jun from when he was eleven years old. The second was of her when she was around thirteen or fourteen. The last picture was Kenji in a suit, smiling widely.
Hyunji slowly turned to Kenji, who was staring at the floor. "You had pictures of us on your dashboard? And why did you have a picture of yourself?"
Kenji closed his eyes. "You're family. Of course I have your pictures. And that was a great picture of myself. It inspires me to look that good everyday."
"We're not family, though!" Hyunji yelled. "Like literally. We are not blood related. I'm sorry you were infatuated with my mom, but that doesn't make you our uncle!"
Kenji looked hurt. "I wasn't infatuated…."
"We have a fourth picture coming in now. We're assuming this is Quon's mother, a known bounty hunter."
Hyunji's mother's picture appeared on the screen.
She turned back to Kenji. "You had a picture of her too! Fucking pervert. Now they're gonna find us! We need to get moving."
"Where would we go?" Jade asked. "If they have the ship, we're gonna need a different way out."
"The ship was totaled anyways," Min-jun said. "You guys need to go. I think I'll turn myself in."
"What?" Hyunji asked with surprise. "No! Don't even think about it!"
"I have thought about it. And I am," Min-jun said with resolution. "My bounty is over 4 million. Numbers like that attract dangerous people. I'll turn myself in and in exchange ask for them to leave my family alone."
Hyunji gave him a slight shove. "You will be doing no such thing!"
"Why not? I'm putting you in danger. I'm putting all of you in danger!"
Everyone was quiet, so the only sound were the approaching footsteps.
Hyunji turned toward the front door where a police officer stood, holding a pistol.
"Put your hands up! All of you! I will shoot!"
Hyunji stepped in front of Min-jun protectively. As she did, time seemed to slow down. Chronos?
No, this was something else. A different being near her that was affecting time. One that was traveling fast enough that everything around them had slowed.
Hyunji watched as Jade ran forward in normal time, directly toward the police officer.
But Jade was a normal boy. How had he gotten powers? No, Hyunji remembered. The alleyway. Jade had killed three bounty hunters by himself, without using his butterfly knife.
How had he gotten so fast?
Jade reached the police officer, wrenching the gun from his hands before he could even react.
Time sped back to normal.
The police officer was looking down at his hands with surprise. "How…how did you…?"
Jade didn't let him finish, smacking the gun against the side of the man's head. He tumbled to the ground, unconscious.
"How the hell did he do that?" Min-jun asked, looking around. "Is everyone here superhuman? Everyone besides me?"
"I'm not superhuman," Kenji said. "Just skilled with katanas."
"Right. Sure," Min-jun said. He looked at Hyunji, shaking his head. "I get that you're all strong. But it's still not enough. None of you are strong enough to fight the hundreds of police officers and who knows how many bounty hunters that are after me."
He pushed past Hyunji and made for the door.
"You're not doing this," Hyunji said, striding forward.
"It was my choice. My mistake," Min-jun said, raising his voice. "Let me deal with the consequences."
"You're my brother! I'm not gonna let you get arrested, or maybe even killed!"
"I won't die," Min-jun said. "I promise."
He turned and stepped through the front door, over the police officer's body. There were sirens in the distance. Reinforcements were coming.
Hyunji charged forward, tackling Min-jun to the street. She raised a fist, ready to hit her brother.
"You call that protecting?" Min-jun asked calmly.
His composure always shocked Hyunji. How was he able to remain so calm in these situations? But on the inside, he wasn't calm. She could see his mind working furiously behind those still eyes.
Hyunji dropped her fist. "I'm sorry, brother. But I need you to understand that I'm here to help."
"I don't always need your help."
"Not always. But right now you do. It's okay to have people to lean on."
There was a growl, coming from across the street.
Hyunji stood, a smile spreading across her face. "What now?"
A creature, crawling on all fours, crept from the shadows. Its eyes were blank, blood red. Its body, which Hyunji assumed was once human, was now covered in purple tendrils. The drug. Had it consumed the rest of the city as well? It wasn't surprising Terry wasn't the only victim of it.
"It's another one of 'em!" Hyunji heard Kenji shout.
Hyunji pulled out her new gun, which she had shoved in her empty dagger sheath. It was loaded again, as she had found a box of bullets on a bookshelf in Terry's shop.
She pulled the trigger, a loud bang following just a moment later.
Hyunji froze. So it had been real. The sound of the gun firing took her back. No…not back. More like parallel. Another timeline?
Except it was a memory, in the very back of her head. She had become one of them. Consumed by the drug. Min-jun had killed her.
Yet she was here.
Chronos had made that possible. He had given her life again. Said she had potential.
Hyunji chuckled as strength coursed through her veins.
What kind of potential do I have to satisfy a god? Guess we're gonna find out.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone