Chapter 7

$256.54 was what I was getting for my quarterly bonus. Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really seem like a lot, but the way I see it, that's $256.54 I didn't have before.

Traffic was a pain in the ass, which made me realize why I don't really go anywhere on the weekends, or in general when I don't have to work. People just aggravated me by driving like complete assholes or idiots. It took me roughly 20 minutes to get to the bank, and once I arrived, I couldn't help but groan.

"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously.

The bank, where I planned on wasting some time, was currently in the process of being robbed. I counted well over a dozen police cars, but no helicopters or vans yet, which led me to believe that what was happening must have just started not too long ago. I couldn't help but sigh as I watched the scene taking place from afar.

"Shit can never be simple, can it?" I asked, wondering what I should do from here. I could just turn around and head towards a different branch of my bank, and that honestly sounded like the best option right now, yet something kept me here.

For one, not only were the roads blocked well out of the way of the bank, but the way it was blocked made it very hard to see what was happening inside. Also, among the police officers, I noticed people dressed much differently than the others, sporting padded armor that looked like it was made for protecting against more than just bullets.

"That's odd." I said, focusing in on what I could. I actually had a decent view of the bank from where I was on a side road, but it was still pretty far away.

Then, to my surprise, as I focused in on where I was looking, it was like my vision became a focus point, allowing me to see much further than I normally would.

"That's... neat." I muttered, as I tested it several times to make sure I wasn't imagining it.

Accepting the gift for what it was, I first focused in one the armored figures. I could barely tell from first glance, but as my vision grew closer, it confirmed what I thought I had seen. Mana radiated from their bodies. Some dim, while others were fairly bright to my eyes.

"Magic users. I wonder what they are doing here." I said as I continued looking at the scene with my new found vision.

I decided I wanted to see what exactly was happening on the inside of the bank, and when I peered closer, I frowned. The doors of the bank were frozen shut with a thick layer of ice, and upon further inspection, the ice itself radiated intense mana.

I wondered why they hadn't tried burning it away, but as I peered closer inside, I understood the police's and magic users hesitation.

There were a decent amount of masked goons inside of the bank, and my frown deepened as I didn't see any mana coming off of them. They had assault rifles pointing at civillians they were holding hostage, and my blood started to boil as I seen their fear filled eyes. These people were terrified, and I couldn't blame them. There were even children among the hostages, but they received the same treatment as the rest.

Then, my eyes fell on the form of someone who did have mana, and it wasn't a small amount either. He didn't need to vision to see mana to know he was a magic user, as his skin was a light blue coloration, and he even had spikes of ice protruding from his arms.

I hated seeing this. I've always hated people who thought they could do whatever they wanted because of their privileges. Money, strength, notoriety, and in this case, some asshole with ice powers.

The blue asshole seemed to be barking orders at his lackies, and I couldn't help but notice a few uncertain looks coming from them. Then, my heart actually clenched when one of his goons brought forth a little girl, and threw her on the ground in front of the ice bastard.

He then picked the obviously scared and screaming girl up by the hair, and summoned a spear formed from ice in his hand, and placed it to the girl's neck. He pointed the child towards the police outside with a cold look in his eyes. The message was clear. Try anything, and she dies.

An older woman, who I assumed was her mother, tried to run closer, but one of the goons struck her in the face with the butt of his gun, sending her to the ground. I could see the blood gushing from her nose from here, and it only made mine burn even hotter. This fucking scumbag is using his powers just to make some fucking money?

Electricity crackled around me as my anger rose. The mana coming from my core felt odd somehow, and then, it felt like something cracked inside of my chest, and from that crack leaked immense power. My windows shattered as my power exploded, and I even felt my necklace fall to pieces, and as such, the illusion shattered. My hair whipped around my like I was in the middle of a tornado as my mana kept pouring from me.

The frozen dickhead pricked the little girl's neck with his spear, drawing a small trickle of blood. Tears ran down her cheeks. All thinking stopped as I shot forward, my car turning to crumpled scrap metal.

I shot past people so fast that I was sure I was nothing more than a blur. I dashed through the front of the bank, smashing through the metal doors and hardened ice like they were mere paper. I didn't even get the see the surprised look of the overgrown smurf as I struck him in the face with my closed fist.

He was sent rocketing backwards, smashing into the back wall of the bank, crashing through it completely, his body still sailing through the air, where he crashed into the wall of another building that was at least 50 feet away across the street from the bank. He sunk into the brick of the wall, and stayed there, unmoving, as his body was indented into the foundation.

During the time that I had punched him, he dropped the child, and I grabbed her and held her close to my chest as I wrapped an arm around her protectively. That's when I learned that my power currently wouldn't harm her if I didn't want it to. I wasn't really thinking about that, and given what happened to my vehicle, I should have been more careful. Thankfully, it was like I was able to wrap her in a bubble that protected her from harm, including from myself, of something like that. I honestly wasn't even thinking, I just acted.

The girl was crying still. I wanted to try and comfort her, but there was still danger inside this building. Slowly, I turned around, still holding the girl close. As I turned, I gazed at my surroundings. I must have looked pretty intimidating with my wild hair and crackling blue eyes, which I could sense were glowing currently. Many of the goons were wide eyed with fear etched across their features. Most of the civillians were much the same, but I did notice the hopeful looks on some of their faces. Some of the kids and younger adults even looked at me like they would their favorite hero.

The mother of the child was holding her nose, but the blood flow seemed to have stopped, or at the very least, slowed down significantly. She stared at me in a way I couldn't parse, but she must have at least realized that I wasn't going to harm her daughter.

I took a quick glace at the girl in my arms, and to my surprise, she had calmed quite considerably, and just stared at me with huge blue eyes. I don't even like kids, but I had to admit that it was kind of adorable. I glaced back menacingly at the armed men, and many of them flinched.

"Enough." I said, and it wasn't a suggestion.

As if it were a King's decree, which it was, most of them dropped their weapons, and raised their hands in surrender. One man was not as smart as his cohorts, and screamed as he began firing at me in 3 round bursts. People covered their ears and winced, while the little girl's mother screamed.

"NO!!!" Her voice was panicked and full of despair.

I felt the girl clutch me even tighter. For myself, I just grinned. As the bullets came closer to me, time seemed to move at a snail's pace. As the bullets reached me, they merely were broken apart by the aura my body seemed to exude. As the man's magazine emptied, and seen that both of us were unharmed, his face paled.

I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. I felt that I could do something that I wanted to do, so I went with my intuition. I raised my hand, and gathered mana in my palm. A ball of lighting coalesced in the center of my palm, and when I thought that I wanted to send it shooting at the guy who shot at me, the energy obeyed.

Lighting shot from my hand, striking the asshole in the chest, and sending him flying out the front door. He hit the hood of a police car, and I was unsure if that had killed him or not. Surprisingly, I didn't really care. These people were scum, and even though they most likely followed the ice powered douchebag out of fear of his strength, I didn't much care. There is always a choice.

The rest of the goons had fallen to their knees and now begged to be spared. A part of me took pleasure at them groveling and kneeing before me. Its was like... that's what they should be doing.

Remembering what I should be doing, I walked towards the mother of this child who was on her hands and knees, struggling to stand. I reached her, and stood before her. She looked up at me with panic in her eyes, but I tried to put on my best reassuring smile as I offered her my hand. She hesitated, but she must have realize my intentions were genuine, so she took it. As she got to her feet, tears welled up in her eyes as she beheld her daughter, safe and secure.

"Mommy." The girl said, more calmly that I would have thought, and she reached her tiny hands out towards her.

I held the girl out, and her mother grabbed and clutched her to her chest, tears now flowing freely down her face. I realized just then that what I had just done felt good. I mean, really, really good. I had taken down a group of criminals with ease, and saved a bunch of people in the process.

"Thank goodness. Thank you so much. Thank you." The woman sobbed, directing her gratitude towards me.

I just smiled at the scene before me. The gazes of the other civillians didn't escape me, but they seemed to no longer see me as a threat, but they were still wary. I couldn't blame them.

The small child then turned her head to look at me.

"Are you a superhero?" She asked me.

I almost burst out laughing from how utterly cute that question was, but I didn't because, as I thought about it, what was a dude with lightning powers that just saved a bunch of people? How did they all see me? It wasn't a stretch to draw that conclusion.

I beamed at her as I reached out and ruffled her hair.

"I just did what I thought was right." I said, noticing my voice was deeper than last aI heard myself.

It was at this time that I noticed the authorities coming closer. I turned to see that they had already subdued the ice covered fuck head, however, they weren't taking measures to secure him or anything. I think he might actually be dead.

I didn't want to be a part of this, so I turned back and beamed at the woman and her daughter.

"I gotta take off. I'm glad you're both okay." I said, turning to leave.

As I was about to zip away, the woman asked.

"Who are you?"

I paused for a second, wondering what I should say. But it was a moot point, as my weird ass magic powered ego answered instead.

"I am the King." I said, and with a flash of movement, I was gone, merely a blur to those around me.

With speed that would give a certain little blue hedgehog a run for its money, I was minutes away in mere seconds.