Arc 51 - Gratitude

Saturday, 27th of July 2019:

Nazar woke up after many days of sleep. He entered the living room and Emma and Aria were the only ones there. They were watching TV.

As he entered, he was scratching his eyes.

“How can you sleep for days and still look tired?” Emma said.

“My Odin Sleep is not long enough.”

He then sat down at the corner of the room.

“You do know there is space on these sofas, right?” Emma said as she pointed to the sofa opposite her.

Nazar sighed.

“Fine. I will sit there.”

Once he sat down, he tapped his palm a few times and a small holographic screen showed up.

“Solace, can you really keep this up?”

- Yes, Master. It should not be a problem. -

“Keep what up?” Emma said with a puzzled look on her face.

“All satellites were destroyed a few days ago. Since then, Solace is making sure that all TV channels are operating and all communication lines are active.”

Emma and Aria widened their eyes in shock.

“Hmm… some of them have been replaced. They sure work fast.”

“So, who knows about it?”

“I don’t know, but probably the government.” Nazar took a pause. “Anyway, Aria, why are you still here?”

“My mom and dad don’t give a shit about where I am, so I am staying here.”

“Do they know?”

“Yes.”

Aria flipped through the TV. As she flipped through, there was a new channel.

“Wait a second.”

As he said that, Aria did not change the channels.

It was playing a news report. On the TV, a reporter was standing in front of the old UN building.

“- … the rise in the number of superhumans has increased drastically. The superhumans who used to work for Internal Order has now started working independently. Some of them are working for the government of their country while others operate as vigilantes. We don’t know anything about them, but they seem to be helping a lot. -”

The reporter then looked at a paper in her hand.

“- We have received many reports regarding how much they have helped. They have prevented car accidents, saved people from other forms of accidents, and more. And beside the old superhumans, there has to be a new one. A much different one. He calls himself Norse God. Unlike the others, he seems far more powerful than the others. -”

The TV then showed a picture of an aeroplane in an airport.

“- Yesterday, a plane was about to crash into the Atlantic Ocean and he saved the plane and everyone on it. He kept the plane moving with his bare hands. He has shown much better strength feats than other superhumans. However, it does not mean that they are not good. -”

The TV then showed the reporter again.

“- There has been some criticism against him. People want to know how he can predict each accident before it happens. Some people think he might be causing it himself. We have the man himself with us today. -”

The camera shot then moved from a medium close-up to medium long-shot.

“- First of all, thanks for talking with us today. -”

“- Thanks for having me. -” Eddie said.

“- So, Norse God, can you tell us how you predict every accident before they happen? -”

“- Oh, I have precognition. It allows me to see some things before they happen. For example, in a few seconds, a car will not stop at this red light. However, it is not always accurate. -”

“Even though the universe is different, his precognition can cause some problems to the timeline,” Nazar muttered.

“- Oh? So, you are here today to stop that car? -”

“- More or less. There will also be an accident in this area soon, so I wanted to be here before it happens. -”

“- So, why not prevent it before it reaches that state? -”

“- My precognition works differently. For example, I can see the immediate future. Only 60 seconds, though. But I also can see fragments of longer future. So, I saw the picture of a car crash with a building. From that fragment, I saw that it was this location. I am waiting here to figure out when and how I will be able to prevent it. -”

As soon as he said that, a red convertible moved past the red light without stopping.

Eddie jumped into the air and landed in front of the car. The car stopped after a little while.

He then returned back to where the reporter was.

“- The immediate future I see only shows my surrounding. It does not show everything around the world. However, the long future shows it shows it randomly. So, I will have to figure out the location and the time and try to prevent it. The power is very random. -”

“- Wow. That’s an amazing power. -” The reporter then looked at the camera. ”- See? This is how someone should use their powers, unlike certain somebody. -”

Nazar chuckled.

“- If you don’t know, I am talking about Nazar - the first superhuman. He is extremely powerful, but he is not a hero. It is true that he saved us when we needed saving but that’s it. He is more of a villain than a hero. A few days ago, he killed thousands of superhumans who belonged to an organisation known as ‘Crimson Sword’. It is true, they were killing people, but when we found that small video from one of the victims, it showed him mowing them down like they were nothing. -”

The TV then showed pictures of dead bodies that were blurred.

“- He has killed them, but did he ever ask why they were doing this and did he ever pay for his crimes. He is a crimin-- -”

“- He is not. -”

Eddie said, interrupting the reporter.

She looked at Eddie in surprise.

“Oh, that idiot,” Nazar muttered. “Don’t tell them about the demon.”

Everyone knows about Zerathos and what he had done as the ruler of this planet, but Nazar still wants to keep the other demons and aliens a secret. He does not want them to know about Bur’goth and how he nearly destroyed everything.

“- He is not a criminal. He is a friend. A friend who saved me when I could not be saved. You don’t know what he has done for all of us. -”

“- A friend? Him? -”

The reporter sounded surprised.

“Wait, we are not friends,” Nazar said.

“- He might not look like it, but he is a tsun-- he is a very good person. -”

“Oh, I have had enough.” Nazar sounded angry as he vanished into thin air.

“- He is an aw-- Oh no, I think he is here now. -”

“- Who is here? -”

“- Nazar. Whenever he is around, my precognition becomes blank. I cannot se-- -”

Nazar appeared behind Eddie and grabbed him by the collar. He then flew off and the camera could not follow him anymore.

Above the clouds, both Nazar and Eddie were floating.

“What were you going to say?” Nazar said as he gritted clenched his fist.

“H-hey, calm down,” Eddie said as he held out both his hands. “I was not going to say ‘tsundere’. I promise.”

Nazar sighed.

“You piss me off so much.” Nazar too a pause before continuing. “Anyway, where the accident going to happen?”

“See, this is why I think you are a tsun--”

That poor man did not get to finish his sentence. He was punched in the face and was thrown away a little.

“Okay, stop. Please stop. I will never say that again.”

“Then why do you look like you are holding back your laughter?”

“I promise. I will never say it again.”

“Anyway, never tell them about us beings friend because we are not. And also, don’t tell them about what happened a few days ago and aliens. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Can you stop saluting?” Nazar clicked his tongue. “Anyway, did you finish reading those books?”

“I never got them, remember?”

“My bad.”

Nazar heard something. He heard the screeching of a car a few miles beneath him.

Without warning Eddie, Nazar moved fast than the speed of sound.

People who were watching the news report, the reporter was talking about Nazar.

“- Is he going to kill Norse God, too? He just took him away. It was too fast-- -”

BOOM!!

A sonic boom could be heard in the local area and also could be heard on the TV screen. There was also a very light screeching noise.

“- What is that? -”

As she was saying that, a van was coming towards her at a very fast speed. It was only a few meters away.

The reporter did not pay any attention to it, until…

THUD!!

Nazar landed a few meters behind her.

Anyone who was watching TV would have noticed him and the car.

The reporter looked back to see a van approaching and she also saw Nazar behind her.

Nazar stopped the moving van with pretty ease. He just manipulated the nitrogen atoms around the van and it was raised a few centimetres above the ground. The van stopped moving.

The reporter let out a sigh.

CRACKLE!!

In the middle of a sunny day, thunder could be heard.

THUD!!

It was at that second that Eddie landed.

As he landed, lightning sparks moved around the area. It did not fry the technology around it, but it did hit the buildings.

And a spark made contact with the van.

As it did, it blew up.

BOOM!!

Nazar easily managed to contain the explosion.

He had placed a telekinetic barrier around the van and the explosion did not spread around.

“Di-did I cause that?” Eddie said slowly.

“No. It was supposed to explode when it reached the building. It was timed. However, when I stopped it, it blew up in here.”

“Phew… I thought I had fucked up.”

“And can you fly without using your thunder?”

“I can do that, but this is more flashy.”

Nazar sighed and shook his head before vanishing into thin air.

The TV channel then showed the reporter going closer to Eddie.

“- What happened when he took you away? -”

Eddie gave her a confused look.

“- Nothing? -”

“- I bet you could have prevented this before it blew up. Everything with him is nothing but destructi-- -”

“- If he wasn’t here, you and many other people would have been dead by now. The building would have been destroyed, too. And I am pretty sure, I could do nothing against an explosion. -”

The woman looked annoyed.

“- So, what power does he have? -” She asked that after a little while.

“- I remember just fragments of my memories before he saved me. So, if I remember correctly, he has flight, strength, speed, teleportation, telepathy, telekinesis, energy manipulation, matter manipulation, and vector manipulation, just to name a few. -”

Eddie paused for a second.

“- Oh, and he is completely immune to my precognition. -”

“- Can you get him to answer some questions for us? -”

“- Highly doubt it. -”

As soon as he said that, he flew up and left.

While that was going on, Nazar appeared back in his home.

“Well, she looked annoyed,” Emma said.

“Who?”

Nazar sat on the sofa.

“The reporter.”

“Who cares about reporters.”

“But are you going to go?” Aria asked.

“Where?”

“She just asked Norse God to see if he could get you to answer some of their questions.”

“Can’t be asked.”

“- So, who is really Nazar? Is he a hero or a villain? We would like to know what you think of him. You can share your opinion on our Twitter or email us. This is-- -”

Emma changed the channel.

“I am hungry. Does anyone want anything?”

“No.”

“No.”

Both Emma and Aria replied almost in unison.

Nazar vanished into thin air.

Emma looked at Aria and said, “He definitely went there to shut her up.”

“Big time.”

Nazar returned a few minutes later with a lot of chicken wings, chips, and burgers with chilli sauces and ketchup.

He placed all of them on the small table.

He started munching on it.

After a few minutes, Emma and Aria joined in, too.

“I thought you guys didn’t want it?”

“Well, it looks very tasty. So..”

“I am glad I bought extra.”

“What if we hadn’t joined you?”

“I was probably going to eat by myself.”

Nazar waved his hand and all the rubbish vanished into thin air.

After sitting down for a few minutes, watching TV, Nazar was already bored.

“This is so boring.”

“True. It has been the worst and most boring summer break ever.”

“I miss my pod too. Life is hard and boring.”

Both Nazar and Laura looked Aria and gave her a weird look.

“Oh, let’s go somewhere.”

“I say beach,” Emma said immediately.

“Nah, let’s go to an amusement park,” Aria almost shouted.

“What are you a child?”

“I am older than you, remember?”

“Um… I was thinking, like another planet or something...”

“...”

“...”

“What? I can teleport there, remember?”

“You know what, let’s go to a beach,” Aria said.

“Agreed. I don’t want to meet ugly aliens.”

“Not all of them are ugly... probably," Nazar muttered. "Fine. Let’s go to a beach.”

After 30 minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.

“Where are we?” Emma asked as she looked around.

“In the middle of Indian Ocean. This is a small island--”

“Can we go to a normal beach?”

“Sigh. Fine.”

He waved his hand and all three of them were teleported to a beach in Newquay.

“Wow. I have seen this place in pictures, but this is the first I have seen it in person.”

Emma ran toward the water.

Aria followed her soon.

Nazar just sat down on the ground.

“I really don’t get what’s so fun about beaches,” Nazar muttered. “Well, at least we didn’t go to a populated area.”

Nazar just laid back on the sand and looked at the blue sky above him.

A few minutes later, Emma and Aria returned.

“Seriously, why are you even here?”

“I don’t get what’s so fun about beaches.”

“But I and Aria are staying here for a while, so you are going to stay with us.”

“Yes, yes. I will not escape.”

As she said that, she and Aria went back into the water.

Nazar laid back and closed his eyes once more.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes because someone was poking him.

He thought it was Aria or Emma, but when he got up, he saw them swimming.

He looked to his left side to see a small boy crouching next to him.

“Hello,” the little boy, who had blonde hair and blue eyes, said. He looked like he was about 8 years old.

“Hello?”

“My name is Tom.”

“I am Nazar,” he said as he looked straight forward.

(What the hell?)

“I know who you are.”

Nazar immediately turned his gaze towards the boy.

“Everyone knows who you are.”

“Where is your mom or dad?”

“They right over there,” the little boy said as he pointed to the people who were swimming. They were a little away from Emma and Aria.

“You should stay close to them. You don’t want to get lost.”

The boy sat down next to Nazar.

“If I am lost, you will find me, right?”

“...”

“What are you doing here?”

“I am being forced to come here.”

The little boy raised his eyebrows.

“I think Norse God is stronger than you.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Are there aliens?”

(Seriously, this kid asks so many questions.)

Nazar thought about the answer for a second.

“Maybe. There is a very high chance.”

“What about monsters?”

“Haven’t seen one.”

(Kid, get away from me before your parents get here. They are probably going to start trembling in fear as soon as they see me.)

“Where do you live?”

“On the moon.”

The boy looked at him with his eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Nazar said as he smiled.

There was silence for a few seconds.

“Who forced you to come here?”

“My sister and cousin,” Nazar said as he pointed towards Emma and Aria.

“She is pretty.”

Nazar looked at him and then chuckled.

"You cannot even see them from here."

"My dad said all girls are pretty."

“Anyway, you should go back to your parents. They will be wor--”

“Ah. Here they are. They are coming here,” the boy said as he pointed towards two figures that were walking towards Nazar and the boy. They looked like they were in their early 30s.

(Shit!) Nazar thought. (Maybe I should use mindwipe… no, I should not mess with people’s memories as I see fit.)

“What can you do?”

The boy asked a question as he stood up.

“Uh… I can fly, move faster than sound, lift heavy objects, read minds, manipulate energy, teleportation, manipulate matter, weather control, manipulate vectors, telekinesis, heat vision, x-ray vision, and so and so.” Nazar shook his head slightly. “It’s honestly too many to name.”

The boy’s parents got closer.

(Oh boy, trouble is coming closer...)

The boy’s parents were very close. They could see who their son was talking to… but their expression did not show horror or fear.

As the man got close enough to be heard, Nazar spoke.

“Listen here, don’t make a scene here by shouting in fear. I wa--”

“Thank you,” the man said as he stood next to his son.

Nazar tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Uh…um… what?”

“Thanks for taking care of my son. He looks up to you.”

Nazar chuckled.

“You do know what I have don--”

“Everyone knows all the bad you have done. But did anyone ever talk about the good you have done?” The boy’s mother spoke.

“Tch. Not this bull--”

“The thing is, you saved us that day. We were about to be attacked by whatever that was, but you came out of nowhere and saved us.” The man said.

Nazar looked up at him.

“...”

“Ever since that day, my son has been a big fan. And so, I just wanted to say thanks for saving us… and for meeting with my son, even if it was just coincidental.”

As he said that, the boy and his parents walked away.

Nazar just laid back down in the sand and closed his eyes… with a smile on his face.

He stayed like that for a few minutes before suddenly getting up.

“Solace, contact Kiet.”

- Okay, Master. -

A few seconds later, his communication transmission was answered.

As the transmission was answered, Kiet’s whole body showed up in front of him as a hologram.

“Nazar? What is it?”

“What happens to your empire now?”

“I am the king now.”

“Well, that was to be expected.” Nazar paused before continuing. “So, that woman, ‘Mother’, mentioned something--”

“The divine power? Well, it is gone with her. Her body is missing and she is the only one who can transfer divine power. From here on out, it looks like we will have to do without divine power and mother.”

“Anyway, I have a proposal.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Nazar smiled.

Los Angeles, USA:

In a 5-star hotel room, Alice was sitting and reading a news article online.

She then clicked on the video and it was of Nazar stopping the van.

As she finished watching that, she smiled.

“You really wanted to shut her up, didn’t you?”

She closed the lid of the laptop.

“Should I go meet him now? Or should I wait?”

She was talking to herself.

“Would he be happy to see me? Or would he be angry? Or would he be feeling guilty?”

She placed her right index finger on her temple.

“But we need to settle some things.”

She stood up.

She let out a sigh.

She looked at the scenery from her window.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. We will meet soon.”