Chapter 1.0
Chapter 1.0
It had been five years since Joseph found himself freed of the Gaia Virus. Like some of the other Titans, he was on the run. He didn’t know much about some of them, hell he never heard of the few he worked with while under the influence of the Gaia Virus. Aeolus was one of the few he recognized, only because the Hellen company Aeolus owned had major stocks in the YerCool Sports brand that Joseph had sponsorships with.
The streets of Kabul, Afghanistan were always filled with people; it was easy for someone like Joseph to hide if you knew how. The fast-paced society of the big cities meant people tended to take shortcuts to where they needed to be. His control over magnetism allowed him to manipulate small round discs lined under his feet, floating a mere inch off the ground as he skated through the crowd, careful to keep his pace slow enough to blend in.
It wasn’t difficult for Joseph to blend in, but he still wore some of his old sponsorship gear. A big baggy white sweater by the brand YerCool, matching beanie that covered his platinum blond hair. His tight blue jeans made it almost impossible for him to store anything in his pockets, although whatever he had in his pockets would surely fall out given how many rips were in his jeans. The YerCool brand skating tables he wore had thick soles, though the rubber material they were made of were altered by Atlas during his time under the Gaia Virus, making them nearly indestructible.
Joseph only slowed his pace as a skatepark would enter his perspective, making him turn down the alleyway to stand outside the gate and watch everyone use the equipment inside. Skateboards, scooters, blades, hovers, bikes; a handful of all kinds of riders. There was no one clique of riders, they all intermingled with each other it seemed. Bikers with skaters, scooters and blades; it did not matter.
“You can’t skate with us—you’re a girl!” One boy exclaimed, reaching out with his hands to push the girl to the ground. The other two boys with him just laughed. Luckily, the girl’s hands were covered in padded gloves, the pavement scratching against the textile material. She’d get up rather quickly, brushing off her rear before pushing the boy back.
“This skatepark is for everyone, you shitface!” The girl curled her fists, but before she could do anything, one of the boys reached out to grab at her hijab, causing her to grab the boy's wrist and her hijab to keep it on.
“No, let go!” Joseph took this opportunity to rush over to the girl, using his powers to rush over quickly within a second. His hand would grab onto the boy's wrist, grilling hard and sending a shock through his skin. The shock caused the boy’s muscle to tense and retract, letting go of the girl’s hijab. The boy had backed up after the initial pain, holding onto his arm as his muscle spasm continued.
“Don’t worry, mate—it should stop. I think. Get your boards and get outta here, or I’ll make more than just your arms twitch!” Joseph warned, the three grunted of course—but decided to heed his warning and take off. Turning to the girl who was fixing her hijab, Joseph adjusted his own beanie before placing his hand upon his chin, index finger and thumb cupping as to show a smug gesture.
“I gotch’ya, no need to thank me!” The girl reached out to slap him, his normally pale skin would turn pink where her hand had laid across.
“Oye, what was that for?!” He exclaimed.
“I don’t need a man to come save me every time I’m in trouble!” She’d exclaim, Joseph only rubbed the single spot on his cheek where she’d slap.
“Ya know—for a human ya do hit kinda hard.” Joseph put his hand down.
“Oh—you’re a Hobotic?”
“Why the sudden change in your tone, aye?” Joseph crossed his arms, it would be weird for this girl to all of a sudden flip a switch like this.
“I’ve never met a Hobotic. That’s all, not many of you guys are permitted here.” She’d place her hands in front of her, her flimsy skateboard hiding her legs. Joseph would notice the flaws in her board, bending down on his ankles to get a better look.
“Ya ain’t going to skateboard on that thing, are ya? Cause I tell ya what, ya hop on that thing, and ya gonna hurt yourself.”
“If it’s cause I’m a girl—“
“Nah, nah—ya got it all wrong, er—uh, what was your name?” Joseph didn’t even bother to ask.
“Amira.”
“Amira—listen, ya ain’t got the right parts. Your axles don’t match your trucks, your bushings are worn down—I doubt this thing is even tight enough for you to do tricks. Your bar rings reek of rust, let alone they’re leaking which means you’ve recently lubed them but ya didn’t let ‘em settle.”
“Alright, alright! What am I supposed to ride then? I don’t exactly have any other option.” Amira crossed her arms, letting her skateboard drop to her feet. Joseph would stand and cross his arms, a smug look across his face.
“You’re looking at a pro, I’m the real deal—I’ll get you a board before you know it!” Joseph moves incredibly fast around the skatepark, using his super speed, collecting parts from others. There weren't many lying around, but enough to fix up the scrap that Amira was riding around on. Joseph grabs the skateboard she’s riding on, taking out a tool he happened to snag and begins working on the board itself. He jumps up, skateboard on the ground, and places his feet on top.
“Ya wanna go or should I?” Joseph was pretending to ride, almost too comically—as if faking. Amira pushed him off the board, making him stumble before getting on it and pushing herself towards the ramps.
“I can do it myself, I got this!” She approached the ramp, rolling down with ease before trying to ollie onto a curb, the board hit the waxed metal and began to slide, but stuck midway—causing Amira to fall off. Her hands reached out forward, scraping the gloved palms against the pavement. The initial shock of smacking against the ground would knock the wind from her chest, forcing her to roll onto her back before taking a deep breath.
“Ya alright mate?” Joseph had zoomed to her, a snicker in his tone. Amira kicked at his shin, but with quick thinking he moved out of the way.
“Nice try. Ya need me or ya too proud to have a boy help ya up?” Joseph reached his hand out, Amira sighed, knowing well enough it was better she accepted his hand; on her feet, Amira brushed off her knees.
“If you think you could do better, then you do it!” She’d yell at him, picking up her skateboard to toss it at him. Joseph moved quick enough to catch the board, but still flinched at the motion. Joseph let a big grin grow across his face, jumping on the board and pushed off against the ground. His foot would push with quicken haste, catching massive speed as he hit the ramps, ollying across the park, grinding what he could. He’d slip under others while they did tricks, even over them if they were too slow. Arriving back at her with his shoulder in triumph as if a massive scoreboard was displayed above the park, and he just so happened to get the max score.
“Now that’s how ya hit the grind, mate.” Amira wasn’t looking at him, but instead was looking at the devastating wake of people that had fallen due Joseph’s actions. Most had been getting up at this point, angry at the speedster for knocking them all over.
“Eh, let’s leave the compliments for later, yeah?” Amira grabbed her board from Joseph, turning around and taking off. Joseph followed behind her, keeping up at her pace—as painful as it was to him.
