gHOSTS

Chapter 1: Hiding in Plain Sight

    "Thank you, come again!" A young man clad in casual clothing said as a customer exited the store, the bell to the door chiming as it opened and closed. He sighed with content from his place behind the convenience store's register. The day was like any other: normal, quite, and peaceful; and that's how he liked it. The TV behind the cashier's counter was set to one of the news stations while he worked.

"Yo, Jason," one of the other coworkers said as he walked up to the young man, who appeared to not have heard him. "Jason?" The co-worker said as he stood on the opposite side of the counter and waved his hand, getting the attention of his acquaintance.

"Huh? O-oh hey! What's up?" The young man said as he straightened up and looked at the other employee.

"Whoah, at ease, cadet," the employee joked, "I just wanted to tell you that you did a good job today." He lean his arms on the register counter and continued. "Say, a shipment came in; there's some boxes in the back that need to be opened. Think you could--"

"Stock up inventory? No problem," Jason said as he began making his way to the back of the store.

The employee stood there a bit puzzled as he watched Jason rush to the back. "...he...must really like this job," he said as he took Jason's place behind the counter, "don't know why, though; it's not like it's the best job in the world." He then sat down in a chair behind the register and rested his eyes while listening to the TV. The TV remained on the news; a female reporter was currently talking about events that happened the previous day.

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"--said in yesterday's statement. Last night, the Hooded Vigilante strikes again; at around 9:00 pm, the vigilante subdued a band of robbers after their attempt at stealing from the town's bank. Witnesses said that he was in and out in a literal flash after using a quartet of what looked like teal blue whips that sprouted from his back. Officials claim that he most likely a gHOST and warn citizens to be cautious while wandering the streets at night."

"Thank you, Amy, that was very informative." A male news anchor said as the camera switched over to the news station. "You heard it here folks; a gHOST vigilante here in our town. How many of those do you hear everyday?"

"Not many," a female news anchor said who was sitting to the man's right, "Whenever you hear the word 'gHOST' people would get goosebumps. The strange powers they possess make them sound like monsters who received a 'get out of jail free' card, allowing them to do as they please."

"Indeed, Mary; ever since that mysterious solar flare which caused the violent destruction of the Hampton Chemical Research Lab more than a decade ago, people with mysterious powers have been popping up everywhere like weeds, causing harm and destruction in their path. The explosion, which spanned over several miles and destroyed many residences and city blocks, was thought to have been caused by a top secret research project that HCRL was conducting; the solar flare somehow reacted with whatever they were working on. The following explosion synthesized a mild radioactive storm that covered the planet for a few weeks before it finally dispersed."

"Right you are, Jeff; the storm genetically modified certain individuals, giving them these mystical powers. The populations that were in contact with the storm that didn't receive these powers became ill for a few days due to a slight radioactive poisoning from the storm. With the uniqueness of the event, some groups think that it was the cause of an alien artifact while others think of it as some sort of mutagen."

"Not only did the explosion cause these gHOSTS to appear, it also caused an outbreak of what we call the Corrupted, gHOSTS whose genes are manipulated to an extent that they quite literally turn into mindless, disfigured beasts. With so many individuals obtaining these powers turning into Corrupted and wreaking international havoc, the countries of the world united with a plan to contain them and keep order in the world; the International Protective Services Against the Supernatural was formed to ensure the safety of individuals prone to attacks by gHOSTS and Corrupted alike. Also, for those of you not familiar with the acronym, "gHOSTS" are genetic hosts for the genes that cause these special powers in individuals. Based on past and present cases, a gHOST can obtain two powers total: an offensive and a defensive of a random type."