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The World is Split

  Red and blue lights flashed against the shattered glass.

  Painting the night outside the convenience store in flickering bursts of color.

  With red being more dominant than blue.

  It casts an eerie glow over the chaotic scene.

  *weeee-woooo*

  The loud wail of sirens still echoed faintly in the distance.

  Mixing with the murmurs of bystanders who had gathered beyond the police tape.

  Flipping their phones and taking pictures.

  Going to post to their social media, maybe?

  Jack thought to himself dryly.

  Great.. My face will be plastered all over the internet at this rate.

  He scratched his chin.

  Paramedics secured the old man onto a stretcher.

  Strapping him in before rolling him toward the open doors.

  Mister White was barely awake, his body still recovering from the brutal attack.

  The old man's eyes flickered as if trying to process what had happened to him.

  He must have never imagined even in his wildest dreams that,—just by deciding to show up at his favorite convenience store, he would end up, with him having a trip to the hospital.

  Jack thought understandingly.

  Well getting suckered punch like that in your chest, while thinking of buying his usual milk and cigs would leave a strong impression on the old man.

  There goes one of the regulars.

  Jack shakes his head.

  Your son won't allow you to come back here again.

  He predicted.

  Maybe he'll be able to get off the cigarettes now?

  Jack mused.

  It is something terrible for his health anyway.

  He smiled at the irony of it.

  Jack stood behind the wrecked counter.

  His hands now gripping the edge as he stared at the ambulance.

  But his legs trembled under the counter, or what was left of it.

  Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he was afraid he might need the ambulance too.

  Should I just go with him?

  He worriedly bit his lips.

  I'll hold his hand while we wait for his son.

  Jack looked at the ambulance wistfully.

  "Hah..."

  He sighed loudly.

  *weee-woo*

  *weee-woo*

  He replayed what happened in his head—the powered punch, the old man collapsing, lifeless on the ground.

  He swallowed.

  His mind had never been this clear.

  *weee-woo*

  We're both alive.

  That should be enough.

  But it wasn't.

  *weee-woo*

  Jack had saved him, but the weight in his chest didn't lift.

  The creeping horror that had gripped him, is that he realized his power was slow.

  Out of all the superpowers to have, it had to be something about having to sleep and dream!

  He wants to take it up to the superpowered customer service if there is one...

  "Hah..."

  Jack sighed again.

  What if I was unable to dream?

  He asked himself.

  What then?

  He would have never been able to save Mister White, and he would have been sold to the Abyss.

  The thought made his stomach twist.

  He exhaled sharply, his breath shaky and uneven.

  Jack was afraid of what could have happened if his superpowers did not work that time.

  *weee-woo*

  The ambulance has started to move forward.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  His gaze followed it until he couldn't see it anymore.

  The sound of the siren still echoed in his ears.

  *weee-woo*

  Then his mind jumped to the robber.

  He remembered the desperation in his eyes, the cracked voice, the kneeling, begging for the vial.

  Jack had let him go.

  He wondered if he had done the right thing.

  He closed his eyes, his grip on the counter loosening.

  Do I even have the right to judge what's right or wrong?

  He can feel his legs stopped it's shaking.

  I'm just a normal person.

  He can feel himself calming.

  Well at least up until yesterday, yes I thought I was just a normal person.

  Jack opened his eyes and a gleam that wasn't there before started to spark.

  Being desperate isn't an excuse for extreme actions.

  But he could understand.

  He'd been desperate once before too...

  He just didn't have the power to act on it.

  Did I do the right thing?

  I think I did.

  He convinced himself it was for the daughter of the robber, for the innocent kid.

  But the truth?

  It wasn't just that.

  It was because, deep down, he understood.

  Jack clenched his fists.

  This world wasn't kind, not to people like him, not to people like that robber.

  Superpowers had turned the world into something cruel – a system where the strong dictated the rules, and the weak were collateral damage.

  Jack started to clean up some of the debris on the jagged surface of the counter.

  *clatter*

  It was because of that war.

  A long, long time ago.

  The earth they knew, was not like this.

  There were no superpowers.

  Everyone has lived peacefully.

  *clatter*

  Then one day, the earth turned black.

  Like when your electricity isn't working.

  But in this case, it was the sun.

  It's as if the sun had been stolen.

  *clatter*

  The whole world turned dark for over a month.

  This phenomenon was called the Great Blackout.

  In that period of time, the people turned on each other – rallies, territory wars, crimes, and cults.

  The earth has turned into a chaotic place.

  NASA even sent satellites with cameras to where the sun should have been, but they returned with nothing.

  It was theoretically impossible.

  The scientists are at a loss.

  Speechless.

  They even closed their doors too.

  It turned their world upside down.

  Because the planets should have stopped and gotten lost in their orbits!

  Two weeks had passed, and people started gaining superpowers.

  *clatter*

  *smash*

  Jack bumped his head at the counter when he tried to pick up the coins that he saw on the floor.

  "Argh.."

  Only then did he notice his surroundings.

  He's been so lost in his thoughts that he did not realize.

  That, the police has already swarmed the store.

  *click* *click*

  Snapping pictures, collecting evidence.

  *crunched* *crunched*

  Their boots crunched over broken glass, and their voices blurred together into a low hum of official-sounding nothing.

  Someone radioed for cleanup.

  Someone else muttered about paperwork.

  Jack observed them.

  They are SERT, the one on TV last night.

  Superpowered Emergency Rescue Team.

  They are the old 911.

  Is it affiliated with that SPA?—Super Powered Alliance.

  No, I don't think so.

  They weren't.

  If it is, then SERT wouldn't be here.

  They have nothing to gain from being here.

  The SPA would never waste their time on a case like this.

  They never move now to help people.

  They only move now if there's something they can gain.

  Some old guy getting beat down in a convenience store?

  A desperate man trying to save his daughter?

  Too small, too unimportant.

  So no, SERT is not affiliated with SPA—the alliance of heroes.

  SERT must be affiliated with the government.

  *crunched* *crunched*

  Yes, the heroes and the government are different.

  Like two sides of one coin.

  Both are on the ‘Good’ side but different all the same.

  The SPA the superheroes that save the world, and the government that tried to maintain order and stability, no matter the cost.

  *crunched* *crunched*

  They thought it was the end of the world then.

  Everywhere you look, every crime is being committed.

  Well, that's what it said in the history books anyway.

  Jack shrugged.

  The people got split.

  Some superpowered people rose, wreaking havoc and decided they wanted to rule the blackened world.

  Their intentions are still unknown as to why.

  Then there are superpowered people who have not lost their humanity.

  The war started between the two opposing side—the Great War.

  *clatter*

  Jack started to clean up again.

  Picking up shards of bottles like it was only natural.

  *clatter*

  Then he resumed thinking back about what he read in books.

  *clatter*

  Well, in the end, those superpowered villains got defeated—they call themselves—the Abyss now.

  And the heroes—SPA.

  And then, as if it's a lie, as if that's only what the sun had waited for, it appeared – after a whole month.

  Marking the end of the Great War and the Great Blackout.

  Great naming choices

  Jack sarcastically commented in his head.

  And the most interesting part is, that the superpowers didn't lose their powers.

  Instead, every time a kid hit his 16 years of age, they started manifesting their superpowers.

  Making all adults have some kind of superpower, regardless of whether it's awesome, useful, or useless.

  It was the start of the Superpowered Era.

  *clatter*

  The SPA established its group, they are not a government-related group but a group of the superheroes that saved the world.

  The government, excited and clueless, had given free access for the SPA to have power over the government, even making it an irretractable law.

  And now, they can't do anything about it, as the SPA became more powerful, living like kings up unto their descendants.

  Then there's the Abyss—a cockroach-like group of powerful individuals who still want to take over the world.

  The villains.

  Their reason for wanting to rule is still unknown, which is the irony...

  As of now, the SPA is the one ruling like kings.

  And Jack?

  He'd never been part of their world.

  Until now.

  Jack's power?

  Dream.

  And within the dream, the void.

  In the void, floating words.

  What do you want to create?

  That was the question it asked all the time.

  The power that let him create something out of nothing.

  He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers.

  The bat was gone, vanished when he no longer needed it.

  The vial, too - he'd given it to the robber.

  He hoped it would explode in the robber's face after he fed all the potion to his daughter.

  The void had only lent him those things temporarily.

  Maybe?

  A sharp voice cut through his thoughts.

  "Kid, you good?"

  Jack blinked, focusing on the police officer standing before him, arms crossed.

  The officer's presence was imposing - tall, broad-shouldered, and built like a bouncer.

  His badge was clipped onto a reinforced tactical vest with SERT written on it.

  His short, graying hair made him look older than he probably was.

  What struck Jack most was the faint hum of energy around the officer's palm.

  It glowed softly, like embers beneath his skin.

  Jack wasn't surprised; plenty of cops have superpowers related to being a cop.

  Must be powerful too.

  Jack mused.

  'I hope they catch that robber.'

  Jack thought, washing his hands of the robber's situation.

  He focused on the officer, whose name tag read "Olo" on his chest.

  Jack wondered what this guy's power was.

  "Yeah," Jack muttered. "Just... tired."

  The officer studied him before sighing. "Hell of a night. You were lucky."

  Jack exhaled, glancing toward the cop car.

  Not luck. Not this time. His mind churned.

  He'd done something impossible - creating something from nothing.

  It wasn't just rare—it was unheard of.

  Or maybe it was all useless?

  Jack doubted the void.

  The officer's voice brought him back.

  "You're a witness, kid. We'll need you to come down to the station and give a statement tomorrow."

  "Okay sure," Jack said.

  "Get some rest. This city's rough enough without losing sleep over things you can't change."

  The officer's eyes narrowed.

  "Yes, officer."

  Jack answered respectfully.

  The officer nodded.

  "Good. I'll have someone escort you."

  As the officer turned to call for backup.

  Jack caught a glimpse of something on his wrist—a small, leather-bound cuff with a discreet silver emblem.

  The officer's words echoed in Jack's head:

  "Things you can't change."

  Jack glanced down at his hands again.

  Maybe that used to be true.

  But not anymore.

  The emblem looked familiar, but Jack couldn't quite place it.

  The officer turned back, his expression neutral.

  "Let's get you out of here."

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