LIGHTFOOT (ONC 2021)

5.2| redo.

Darkness had swallowed Saint-Max. He felt like he had been falling for hours with no end in sight. Then, the darkness slowly disappeared and a bright light took its place.

Saint-Max gasped awake. When he looked around, he found himself back in Vamos, Gluevale Central Bank not far away from him. Janice stood in front of him, unaware of what had happened to him.

"That's a stupid plan," Janice said.

Suddenly, a bright white light passed through them within a blink of an eye. But it seemed only he noticed it.

It was probably nothing, he thought. Wait, didn't I think about that already?

Janice laughed. "I didn't mean to offend you. But you have to be careful. It takes guts to rob a bank while kaijus are attacking the city. Whoever is doing it might have powers."

"Might," Saint-Max said. Wait, didn't I say this before? Why am I repeating myself?

"Exactly. We don't know. Just because you can run fast doesn't mean you can't be stopped."

I can't be stopped? A wave of deja vu struck him like an ocean current, bringing nausea to his body. He covered his mouth with his hands, stopping himself from puking. What's happening to me?

He knew everything Janice would say before she said it, and how he would reply. This moment had happened already, right? He had not listened to Janice's advice, running inside the bank only to die after stopping the masked villains.

I died. Saint-Max remembered the grin on The Leader's face as he tore Saint-Max's body apart with his machine gun. It was such an old-school way of killing a peculiar. But it worked. I died.

Saint-Max patted his body. There were no bullet holes. How am I alive? He turned back to Janice. She had her hands on her waist and her brow raised.

"You're acting weird," she said. "What's wrong?"

Saint-Max chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head. "Nothing's wrong." Did I see the future?

Future Prediction wasn't one of his abilities. But there were peculiars who had manifested more secondary abilities later in their lives. But their percentage was less than one.

No, that can't be it.

The average peculiar awakened their primary and secondary abilities by twenty-one. At twenty-six, Saint-Max had awakened all his. Now he focused on strengthening them by training and fighting supervillains so he could be in Class-1.

"Saint-Max, what's wrong?" Janice asked again.

Should I tell her? No, she'll think I'm crazy. "Nothing." He smiled, but the frown on her face showed she didn't believe him. If I want to know what's going on, then I have to get inside the bank. "I'll be right back."

If it was a vision of the future, then Saint-Max knew how he'd die. After knocking out the henchmen, The Leader would appear behind him and stop him somehow. No, not somehow—he had powers. Powers that enabled him to distort gravity around Saint-Max and keep him still.

"I have the upper hand now," Saint-Max muttered.

He activated his secondary ability—Phasing—and passed through the glass entryway doors. Everything stood still, allowing him to get a proper look at the room. Cameras covered each corner of the wall with their red lights on. Someone was obviously watching from the other end.

Around the room were:

Three masked villains... five hostages: cashiers.

Five more masked villains... twenty hostages: customers.

Another three more villains... five hostages: bank tellers

It would only take him a second to knock out the masked villains and free the hostages.

"Surprise!" someone said from behind him.

Saint-Max turned towards the entryway and saw The Leader. He looked the same as in the vision, or whatever it was. His dark skin glowed under the sun as its light sipped through the glass doors. The malice in his green eyes and the three parallel scars cutting across his face made Saint-Max gulp. The Leader looked like he had been to Hell and won his ticket back to the land of the living. Even demons couldn't handle him.

But Saint-Max was a superhero. His job was to fight supervillains like The Leader. He couldn't be scared now and chicken out. He had hostages to free.

"I'll stop you!" Saint-Max shouted, but fear crossed his face and made his eyes watery. He had seen himself die at this man's hands. He didn't want to die for real. He wanted to live and experience the fruits of his labor. But what kind of superhero would he be if he didn't stop him? "I won't let you kill them!"

Saint-Max darted towards him. The Leader raised his right hand and aimed his palm at Saint-Max, stopping the speedster in his tracks. Saint-Max couldn't move. It felt like gravity had intensified around his body, forcing him to stand as still as a statue. Like in the vision.

"How can you stop me?" Saint-Max asked, only able to move his mouth and eyes.

"Do you feel that?" The Leader asked. "The heavy breathing. The racing heart. The lump in your throat. The sweat running down your face and body. All of it is a sign of fear. When your mind heard my voice, it knew instantly it was going to die, forcing a reaction from your body. It's telling you to flee. But you can't, right?"

"N—N—"

"Not every superhero is destined for the big leagues. Rest. In. Peace. Lightfoot." The Leader aimed his machine gun at Saint-Max and tore the unranked superhero's body with bullets.

Darkness swallowed Saint-Max before it slowly disappeared and a bright light took its place.

Saint-Max gasped awake. When he looked around, he found himself back in Vamos, Gluevale Central Bank not far away from him. Janice stood in front of him, unaware of what had happened to him.

"That's a stupid plan," she said.

Suddenly, a bright white light passed through them in a blink of an eye. But it seemed only he noticed it.

"Fuck!" Saint-Max shouted.

"What's wrong?" Janice asked with wide eyes, and a hand on her chest, shocked by his sudden outburst.

"I'm stuck in a time loop."

Words: 1019.

Total Words: 9690.