“Another rich neighborhood has their trash day on Monday but I don’t feel like walking it there… losing my bicycle sucks…. Wait! How am I getting to work now?! Aaagh!”
Luc calmed down, drank more soda and did his best to forget his problems by watching other’s misery on the daily news.
“Oh shit, this is what Genie told me!”
The first newsbit he saw was that scientists were concerns as the ‘20%’ was in danger. With the 20% referring to ability and magic users. They stated that it would be 15% in a decade if things continue like this.
Construction, farming and most heavy labor jobs were currently being solved by either ability users or organizations like the Lamberts that created machines with supernatural abilities to help out. The fall of the 20% meant that the crucial building blocks of society were crumbling.
“Well there goes the supposed secrecy…”
The news bit went over a debate whether the increase of ability users or decrease would be better for society but Luc found it pointless as they were missing the point; a shift in the status quo would break many systems.
“Do they have junk for brains? It’s the supporting systems that determine whether an increase or decrease is bad! The current system doesn't even work for the 20% right now!”
Luc was upset as the debate appeared to be using the standpoint that the current system worked, which was easily disproved.
The debate went nowhere and luckily for Luc, the news anchor changed the subject, although slightly and went away from the debate.
The focus was still ability users and magic users, but it shifted toward the SAU and how the future 15% would influence it.
“People get paid to talk about these pointless and easy to conclude solutions? Maybe I should go into reporting instead of my shitty job…”
To no surprise, the conclusion was that nothing would change as many ability users didn’t get accepted into the SAU and all they needed to do was just accept more people in if they needed to fill a tournament roster. Only the entertainment quality might see a small dip.
“Would be nice if they deliver things that were actually new and not things people could figure out by using some brain cells…”
Luc was about to switch channels when something came up about strange sightings all over the continent.
“Ohh so we're not the only ones who saw strange men in our eye corners and it's not just ability users."
It didn't get much attention at first but after more and more people reported it, it became clear that this either was mass delusion, an ability user at work or a real problem.
A small team had been sent to investigate but they mysteriously disappeared.
"Well they probably have been killed by the horned men… but even professionals are struggling eh?”
Luc leaned backward and continued listening to the news about the ‘eyecorner men’.
“Come on… give me something I don't know yet!” Luc said, slightly bored after listening for 10 minutes.
It went on until a scientist got to talk about it. 'Early data has pointed at the presence of the eyecorner me in mana dense areas. The speculations are…’’
“That's it! They use a lot of mana, so they must only appear in places that have a lot of mana!”
Luc’s hasty conclusion got disproven as the scientist continued.
‘The strange problem the research team had stumbled on was that mana hotspots appeared devoid of eyecorner men. We don’t know why, and it’s difficult to say due to bias but.. It appears that these eye corner men only appear in populated area. We’re running into an observer effect as it’s difficult to disprove it as both metropolitan areas and rural areas are inconsistent in location eyecorner men.’ was what the scientist explained.
“Huh, that’s strange? So they want mana but not when there’s nobody nearby? Are they… mana vampires?”
Luc kept listening, but the scientist had reached the limit of his time slot and the subject changed.
“They finally get something interesting on, and they cut it short… Why is the news so trash…”
‘And now for some shocking news! A family of 3 has been brutally murdered in their house in the Frozen Star neighborhood, it has been the 4th incident this month and the victims have been slain by the same modus operandi; crowbars.’
“Great, another weirdo… but the Frozen Star neighborhood, eh? That’s not far from here…”
Luc shifted his gaze northwest. He couldn't see it of course, but that was the direction of the rich neighborhood where Charlotte lived and it was near a massive museum which was called the Frozen Star, which was why the neighborhood was named after it.
All the victims of his mystery murderer have been ability users so the media dubbed this murderer the Ability hunter.
“Are they sure it isn’t just another horned man?” Luc asked himself but then realized the attacks were too concentrated. Did that make sense for a being that could hop through portals and could appear wherever? And why would it use crowbars when it could use magic?
“I suppose I should warn Charlotte to stay away from weirdos and lock up.”
Luc grabbed his phone but wondered if that was appropriate. They had been strangers just several days ago. Would it be okay for him to randomly message her?
His hand hovered above his phone and he decided against it. He saw Charlotte as a capable individual, she didn't need him to tell her what to do.
The day progressed and Luc just watched the SAU. His sister wasn't fighting, so it was enjoyable for Luc as he had no idea who would win in this bracket, instilling tension and excitement.
“Ahh, those were some great matches!” Luc said while stretching and turning off the TV.
He went to the kitchen to decide which box of food to refill when he noticed that his ‘fridge’ pile was gone.
“Right, I need to see if I can get more fridges. Too bad Genie doesn't sell them.”
Luc tossed the wrapper of the golden fridge where the box pile was supposed to be and got ready to go outside.
“Let’s see, I could hop by Trashformers or…”
Several burger junk food boxes got refilled and he consumed one of the 3 burgers while preparing his backpack.
The first burger got devoured completely as he was ready to go outside.
“I also need to get a bicycle… maybe watching TV the whole day was a bad idea…”
Luc stepped out in the cool evening air and walked toward a small mall that was located at the big road that separated his neighborhood from the frozen star neighborhood.
He was careful, pointing the mana detection device around as he didn't want to encounter another horned man. He believed that the previous encounters were coincidence but he couldn't be sure.
He believed that twice was a coincidence, trice a pattern.
The mall was close and the device only beeped softly with large delays, indicated that some buildings or infrastructure might have been made by an ability but due to the passage of time, the mana had almost dissipated completely.
It was eye opening as it highlighted how reliant society was on ability users. The fall of the 20% and its consequences really started to sink in for Luc.
“Did we set ourselves up for failure?" He asked himself as he looked at a massive building in the distance; the Frozen Star museum.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
It contained many things, but the most important items were those that indicated that mana might have been a normal thing in the past, a time when everyone could use mana. Unfortunately, nobody could read the language on those items or find out much about it, but it might currently be humanity's only hope of preventing the fall of the 20%
Luc’s device beeped and he rushed into an alley and tried to find out what the source was.
A small mechanical sphere floated around, collecting litter, cleaning the area as much as it could.
“I see, a rival has appeared."
The robot could only deal with small pieces of trash which meant that this wasn't a real problem for him.
“That trash collector will be my guide today. But first…"
Luc flicked his wrist and pointed the mana detector to scout the area. " Left, safe! Right, safe! Behind…"
The device started beeping like crazy and since he just pointed the device, he had no idea what was behind me.
"Fuck my life…"
Luc didn't hesitate and just ran. He had watched enough TV to know that turning around will get him killed.
His hand went into his bad after tapping on his bag watch and flung a microwave box behind him after subjecting it to his ability.
A loud crash startled him and made him speed up.
'A crash? That's not how the horned men fight, they use mana.’ Was what Luc thought as he glanced behind him, noticing a man clad in black running after him with 2 crowbars in his hand.
“Why am I so unlucky… I'm not even in the frozen star neighborhood! Go away!”
Luc ran around the corner and dropped a wardrobe box.
It was way smaller than a fridge box but it could still launch someone if he refilled it as it was quite large in its unfolded state.
The box unfolded rapidly as the man in black came around the corner but ran into it and fell over the box as Luc had messed up his timing.
“Not what I wanted, but that must have seriously hurt his shins."
The man groaned in pain after his ugly fall and Luc left him far behind. He couldn't return home just yet, as he had to make sure it was really safe.
Luc was confident in his ability, but he wasn't stupid. This man in black has killed several ability users. A box filled with hard wooden boards to his shin shouldn't realistically stop him.
“At least I have gotten a new move. Dropping hard, shin height objects to get rid of pursuers.”
It had more potential to deal great damage when thrown, but the shape of the box made throwing it a bit impractical.
Luc made it to the mall, which was closed and climbed over the gate at a spot he found months ago.
The mall was outdoors and just had large shutter gates close it off after 22:00. Several parts were roofed so it could be an attractive place for homeless people, and since it was close to the Frozen Star neighborhood, they wanted none of that.
Luc got a feeling of safety after getting past the shutter gates, but he stayed wary. The threat of horned men was still real. It was unlikely that the man in black could follow him with busted shins, but he lived in a world with ability users, anything could happen.
He walked through the empty mall and located his least favorite store to visit during the say but the most favorite at night.
He went to the back and located a large container which had all the paper and cardboard waste. Which were mostly boxes. Some were torn, but most were either flattened or folded to take up less space.
“These stores are always so overpriced… one could buy half a city block for their kitchen appliance prices…”
There were many useless boxes, as many appliances were either not heavy or large enough.
Things like fruit juicers looked cool, but Luc would never use it, and it wasn't particularly heavy, so a poor choice to use as a projectile. His favorite options were fridges, microwaves and toasters in that order.
Fridges could act like shields, elevators, crushers and sure kill projectiles. Microwaves packed a punch when thrown, but that was about it. Toasters could be used as projectiles or for close combat, as he could use them as boxing gloves or as a morning star.
Luc was currently looking for the king of kitchen appliances; the fridge.
“Come on, I really need some…”
Luc got rewarded, but his loot was inadequate for his taste. “What is this? A fridge for toddlers?"
He read the text on the box which told him that it was a mini fridge.
“What a useless appliance… this can't kill a horned man, might as well fling a microwave…”
He still stored the box in his backpack as he might be able to use the mini fridge in his house.
Every microwave box got stored, but his main target did not appear in the 20 minutes that he went through the old paper container.
" Well this sucks… fridges are so efficient because I just need 1 refill to decide the outcome of an encounter… what is the next best thing…”
Luc had never considered what he could use as an alternative, as he had expected to score at least 1 or 2 fridge boxes. He was drawing a blank and wondered if he needed to visit the furniture place.
Furniture was inefficient in his opinion as most has to be put together at home so the boxes are often flat and long. They could fit his new category that he named shinbusters, but he still found the function a bit too niche.
“Bicycles don't come in boxes, do they? What about those foldable ones?”
He did know that it was possible to order a bike and dealing with boxes would be easier for delivery men than to deal with the folded bicycles themselves, so he went to give it a shot.
“Nothing… what’s this? A coffee machine? And why does it look so expensive…”
The bicycle shop didn’t have anything he was looking fore; even worse, he found boxes that weren’t related to bicycles at all, prompting him to back off and read the store logo again.
“I’m not in the wrong garbage container… what the fuck… what do they need an automatic pizza cutter or a drone for? And is that… a sex toy?! This is a bicycle shop, right?!”
Luc backed off and wanted nothing to do with this shady bicycle shop. He never liked the people there but now they had proven themselves to be degenerates that just mess around. It was an easy decision for Luc to never visit the place ever again.
“Sometimes someone’s trash reveals a bit too much about others…”
A sound startled him, causing him to fall away from the container, evading a crowbar like that.
“One lucky lad you are…”
A limping man clad in black said, holding 1 crowbar.
“Huh? How did you even get here with your leg like that?”
Luc noticed something moving in his eyecorner and evaded something black flying past.. The man clad in lack caught it and had 2 crowbars yet again.
“Huh? You’re an ability user? The news said you hated them!”
“I do! They ruined my life!” the man said as he threw another crowbar.
“You’re doing that perfectly by yourself!” Luc said, as he hid behind the old paper container, using it as a shield. “Leave me alone! I’m just a poor bloke looking for scraps!”
“Nice try, I know you’re an ability user. I can smell it!”
Luc lifted his armpit and took a sniff, but he only smelled the faint smell of his ‘ocean breeze’ deodorant. “That’s deodorant you’re smelling dude.”
Something clanged on the container Luc was hiding behind. Luc looked from under the container to get the man’s location, but the container moved away from him that moment.
“What? His ability isn't something like a boomerang? Why did I find myself in such a trash situation…”
Luc pulled a box out of the container, folded it and took a look at it before he would throw it. “Great… of all the boxes, I got the sex toy box… here, take this!”
The box with a pink phallus shaped object got flung at the man in black, got refilled and hit his shoulder. “What the… is this your ability?1 flinging sex toys?!”
“Of course not! Blame those degenerates from this store!”
Luc went into his backpack as this container had become untrustworthy and a box of his trusted microwave came out.
He followed the container as it slowly moved to the man in black as it was his only cover, and he was unsure what his ability was exactly.
“How about this! You let me go, and I won’t use my ability on you which can turn anything I see into a deadly weapon!” Luc bluffed.
It wasn’t completely untrue but it had way more limitations than he gave away in his bluff.
“Haha the bold type eh? I’ve killed many like those.”
“Liar… the news says you only kill families with abilities that don’t allow them to defend themselves…”
“Lies! Open your eyes! The media lies to you!” The man said as Luc heard another clang and the container moved at him at great speed.
“Whoa!”
Luc dove to the side and threw the microwave ox like a frisbee as he did and had it refill midair.
A familiar crash sound notified him that it didn’t work, and now he saw what the previous one was. The man in black had smashed it apart with his crowbar.
“What the fuck is that crowbar made of… that’s quite a sturdy microwave…”
The man smashed the box holding the microwave into pieces with what appeared to be pent-up rage, causing him to be briefly distracted.
Luc picked up on this and quietly ran for it. ‘That psychopath had only 1 working leg, surely he wouldn’t be able to catch up’. Was what he thought.
Something whooshed by him and clanged off the wall in front of him, to which something else whooshed by and a heavy blow hit Luc from behind, causing him to stagger.
He fell down but noticed that the man in black was also on the ground, next to the object that had been flung past him.
Both had difficulties getting up. Luc because of the heavy blow and the man in black that had been flung to the ground in Luc’s perspective.
“Just my luck… it seems that escaping won’t be easy…”
A bottle of Luc’s favorite sports drink came out and refilled before it got gulped down.
“Ugh, hope this drink also does something against the massive headache I got from that blow…” Luc complained as he kept his eyes on the man clad in black, no, the ability hunter.
Luc didn't know why the ability hunter was doing this, but he didn't feel like becoming the next victim.
‘Can I even win?’ was what he thought to himself. He never had been in a real fight before. Fighting this ability hunter was different from the horned men.
While a low bar, this ability hunter seemed more intelligent. Or at least he wasn't underestimating Luc, like the horned men did.
Both were wary of each other as neither moved and just observed the other. Until…
The ability hunter stretched his hand toward Luc or more accurately, something behind Luc.
Luc moved to the side without taking his eyes off and had something whoosh pat him again.
“I see, I think I have an idea what your ability is.” Luc said as he pulled 3 boxes out of his bag.
