Essencers

A kid, about 15 years old, sits at the bar table. In front of him is one of those high percentage drinks that started to become popular after drinks like vodka, whiskey and beer became non-procurable. Something about him was off, uncanny even. There was a spark in his eyes that normal people did not have. Normal men wouldn’t approach this kid but the man that came into the bar at that exact moment was no normal man. He was desperate and in need of money. So he looked around for the weakest link in the bar and locked onto the kid.
He smirked. Sitting himself down besides the kid he asked “Where are your parents,boy”. “How would I know” the kid replied without even looking up. There was a moment of silence and the air thickened. Everybody in the bar knew that this kid was most likely going to end up robbed and dead.
A smug grin slowly appeared on the man’s face.
“So you are alone. What’s your name, kid”.
“Zero”.
The man didn’t really seem to care about the name. He was just thinking about what to do next. He looked tense. Zero had been following the movement pattern of his eyes, since he had entered the bar. He knew what would happen next and what he would have to do.
“Look Zero I am really sorry but you will have to come with me. Nothing personal kiddo” the man said as he lit up a lighter and let the flame jump into the palm of his hand. This Fire-essencer seemingly had to rely on an outside source to activate his Control. Impressive trick but Zero knew that in comparison to the power of Supers this was nothing. No wonder this man became a thug.
Zero had calculated this outcome the moment the man had stepped into the bar so he wasn’t surprised. He just looked at the thug and said one word.
“No”
At that moment everything slowed down. Zero’s thoughts accelerated and he thought through all the possibilities to win this confrontation and quickly decided. He took the glass of liquor into his left hand. That made him lose 0.4 seconds, as his left hand wasn’t his dominant hand and as such not as fast as his right. But it would give him an advantage for the next few steps. With a swift motion he threw the liquid right in the man’s face. The alcohol ignited because of the open fire and the thug’s head burst into flames. Even though it wouldn’t do much, as he was a Fire-essencer, it gave Zero the opening he needed. Zero smashed the glass against the counter, making it shatter. The thug was blinded, but alert, so his reaction time would be at around 0.9 seconds. The next move would only take Zero about 0.53 seconds, putting his likelihood of success at 87%. Thinking like that Zero grabbed the thug right at the back of the head securing his grip and locking the movement of the man. Finally, with a smooth motion he smashed the man’s face against the counter.
All of this only took 2 seconds but Zero was fast and the impact was huge. The man smacked against the counter, getting cut by the glass that was scattered on the counter and stunned by the force of the impact. His head flew back, but he manged to stay on his feet. Unfortunately for him, Zero stood up and punched the man against the temple. Flinging him across the room and knocking him out in the process.
Zero dusted himself off and didn’t even look twice at the man lying a few feet away from him. He just threw two coins on the counter and left. Not even a single person looked up from their table.