change

5 - a prayer.

The skies were blue and the clouds were floating in it. Underneath was a massive temple, built up from the ground for worshipping gods. The place was filled with people praying and making offerings to the shrines, mainly by burning sticks made from incense. The smell of it wasn't any more pleasant than ordinary smoke, but it had the bonus feeling of sending a prayer.

Chris swiftly wade through the slightly spacious crowd and got to the interior of the temple. He was clutching a small handful of incense sticks, quickly looking around. The inside was about twice as massive as the living room of a mansion, housing only a few chairs and tables, a couple of soft blocks for people to place their knees on as they prayed, and a massive Buddha statue opposite the wide entrance.

He stopped for a moment to take in his surroundings. Then, he slowly walked towards the statue. Taking some of the incense sticks he had and putting them onto his left hand, he stopped the moment he nearly reached the table in front.

A man wearing a red uniform came up to him and asked, "Would you like me to hold your incense for you?"

"Yes, please."

The man used Levitation on the batch of incense he was holding on his right hand and held it above his finger as Chris lit the incense he was holding and prayed. Once he was done, he put the incense into the censer and bowed before taking back the incense from the man.

"Thank you for holding it," he said.

"No problem. I just like to help out."

"I'm sure the gods will be pleased with your actions, right?"

"Haha... Really hope so."

Chris started walking towards the shrine outside when he spotted a young boy to his left wearing a singlet wandering around. The boy looked around 10 years of age and seemed to be talking with his senior friends until the two of them saw each other.

They ran towards each other, but right at that moment, an explosion roared from Chris' left. It sent him rolling into the temple, but he quickly got to his feet and stood up to see who caused it. As the crowd quickly dispersed from the scene, a silhouette of a man appeared in the smoke before disappearing.

"Behind you!" someone shouted.

Had it not been for the warning, the man would have easily taken Chris out. He quickly dodged a swing before doing a roundhouse kick. The man caught it, but he was quickly pulled to the floor as Chris spun himself around.

"Masked men these days... What are they up to?" he asked himself as the man got up, only to lose his balance again because of something unknown kicking his legs. The boy appeared beside him and stuck out his tongue as he quickly ran to the blinds at a corner.

Chris managed to catch up with him, quickly crouched down as he put his hands on the latter's shoulders, and whispered, "Justin, don't reveal my secret, okay?"

Justin eagerly nodded before turning invisible again. He then stood up and walked towards the assailant.

Justin was one of the kids who lived in the same apartment as him, as well as the one who caused the most destruction. Chris had visited his room a few times and found himself cleaning up the chaos caused before his arrival.

"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away you- ACK!"

Chris interrupted the man's speech by dashing in and doing a quick uppercut, before following it up with a heavy punch. He then kicked him away as he leaped back a few steps.

"You remind me of that one girl my friends fought." he said.

"Oh yeah? Really think she beat them almost instantly," Chris replied with a grin on his face, his arms crossed without anyone noticing. "Oh, I can't wait for you to feel what they've been through."

"In that case, I'll quickly get her to challenge me."

"There's a condition though. She can't come while I'm around."

"So you're gonna run away?"

"No. In fact, I'll do the exact opposite. If your friends are telling you to get the hell out of here right now, then I'm sorry, but you can't run."

A wall of people lined the temple interior, using their defensive abilities to block both fighters from leaving the place. The assailant only took a look behind him and chuckled before teleporting away.

"Crap! Right, I forgot his ability."



The assailant had teleported to the roof of the temple, crouching down to get a better foothold on the ridiculously small area he could stand on.

"That kid was trying to be all talk," he thought. "Although, his skills didn't seem to be joking..."

"Hello there!" a voice said from behind him.

He quickly swung his knife in an arc behind him, shouting, "Who's there?"

Justin undid his Invisibility right in front of him, and said, "I'm here, sir," before quickly pushing him off the roof. "That was an easy one. I should get down now. Sam would be scared to see me all alone by myself."

Meanwhile, a sudden arc of electricity shocked the screaming man in midair. He landed on the floor right on his back, a sharp pain coursing through his body. Getting up, he took out his knife and was about to teleport back onto the roof to get that child when he got carried a few meters into the air. Looking down, he spotted 2 men, one of them pointing a finger at him, and a business girl staring up.

The man in the red shirt had thrown the attacker in midair and was holding him there, supported by a guy with an amplification ability putting his hand on his shoulder. The girl exchanged glances with them and nodded before proceeding to dash around the man in the air. Her eyes glowed cyan as she delivered numerous strikes within seconds before landing on the ground.

"You can put him down now. I have a move I want to use," she said to the men, who dropped the man just as quickly as she attacked earlier. She charged up a lot of electric energy in her hands, causing a bright cyan glow to appear on them.

"W-What are you trying to do to me? What are you--"

"Defibrillator."

Without hesitation, she threw a jab at the man with both of her charged hands and held them there, the built-up electrical energy nearly electrocuting him. A really bright glow had appeared, prompting everyone who hadn't fled to get to the scene. After she finished, she loosened her hands and tried to get to her feet, only to nearly fall over had Justin not caught her by the back.

"Woah! You nearly fell over for a second!" he said, pulling her over as he put a hand to her forehead. "Jeez, that attack gave you a fever. You should rest."

"I just used too much energy..." she thought, trying to sit upright instead. The men from earlier rushed over and tried to help her up while the police came and detained the unconscious assassin.

"You alright?" the man in the red shirt asked.

"I'm alright."

"Oh, there you are, Justin!" a man called out from behind them. Justin looked and saw his senior friends walking towards them. "Hold on, you know that woman beside you?"

"I do, but I haven't really asked her address yet..."

"Why do you need her address... Forget it. Not like she lives nearby."

The man walked up to the girl and said, "You look beaten up. Is it alright if we take you home with us?"

"No need... I can head home by myself," she said.

"Come on, it's impossible to hide it. You look like you used too much energy in a single attack. Plus, you can barely stand. Also, there's no healer around, so... Yeah."

"...Alright then."

"Okay, it's settled. Here, Justin, I'll help you."

The boys carried her to their car in the parking lot a couple blocks away. It didn't seem like a car as sophisticated as a Tesla or Mercedes, but it still provided a comfortable ride to the apartment. Just as they got there, however, the girl had already disappeared. Justin simply smiled, for he knew why she could simply vanish into thin air.



Chris opened the door to his apartment and flopped himself on the bed. That day was tiring and he couldn't wait to take a break.

"I feel really tired..."

He threw a thick textbook at the door to make it close, but someone grabbed it and opened it at the last second. Justin was there, and he said, "Oh, you got home this early?"

"Yeah. Gonna take a break now. I want to sleep."

"Okay! Have a nice day!"

Just like the typical Justin he was, he didn't close the door as he left. Chris only sighed and climbed into bed.