I Like Those Odds

If you had the power to change someone’s fate, would you do it? How about this: if you had the power to change your own fate, would you do it? Would you take someone’s life in your own hands?

            When I was 5, I learned that the shapes I saw everywhere weren’t shapes at all. They were numbers. I’d think I wonder if Mom will take me to the park today, and numbers would appear in front of me. I thought I was going crazy. For the longest time, I thought there was something wrong with my eyes. I asked for glasses but had 20/20 vision. 

            When I was 7, I found that certain outcomes that I could change the numbers if I wanted to. For example, I wanted ice cream for breakfast. Numbers would appear, and with a single though, the numbers shot to 100. Mom let me have ice cream for breakfast. I wanted to get every question right on a test but didn’t study. I pulled up the probability and was able to guess every answer correctly. 

            At first, Mom just called me her ‘Lucky Penny’. Penny was my name, so it was fitting. I agreed, thinking the numbers were my imagination. I was just lucky, simple as that. 

            It wasn’t until I was in 6^th grade that I had another explanation for the strange events. Gosh, I can still hear Ms. Smith when she said it. 

            “Probability,” she had announced, “is the extent to which something is probably, the likelihood of something happening or being the case.” 

That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t lucky at all. Somehow, in some way, I was changing the probability. I even found a social media post on it being one of the best superpowers. 

So, I decided to test it out. What are the odds that I’d find $10 on the street, I thought and saw the numbers: 15. Let’s change that, I willed. The numbers shifted to 100%, so I went outside to test it out. Sure enough, there was a 10-dollar bill lying on the side of the road. 

I decided to try something else. What are the odds of it raining today, I thought. The numbers showed 100%. With a single thought, the number plummeted to 0. It didn’t rain that night. 

I had discovered some sort of superpower. I couldn’t believe it. After reading countless comics in my childhood, I was becoming one of the main characters. 

I never told anyone about my little secret ability, having read enough of those comic books to know how that might turn out. Everyone assumed small, happy coincidences followed me wherever I went. I was just a ‘Lucky Penny’, nothing more. 

Though, I didn’t just sit idle. My city had its own heroes; it certainly didn’t need one more. I watched the television or took perch on the roof of my apartment building to watch the supers duel it out. Every now and then, I’d tip the scales in favor of the superhero. Sometimes, just to keep it interesting, I favored the antagonist. In any case, I helped in my own way with the world being none the wiser. 

I used my powers for something else too. The newspapers always need someone on their side, someone who can give them the best headlines. Not the most glamorous job, but it was the best I could do. 

For 20 years, I kept my secret from everyone. Even when my dad were on his deathbed . Even when I met a boy with the bluest eyes I had ever seen. Even when he proposed, and we moved in together. I never told a single human being. 

Kyle was a wild soul, always coming home with cuts and scratches all over his body, though he was just a surgeon. Most nights, I messed with the probability of him getting hurt, but not to the point of suspicion. Of course, I still watched the television and sat on the roof of our new apartment building, watching whatever battle unfold, whenever he was gone. I hated keeping the secret from him, but I had no other choice. As much as I loved Kyle, I couldn’t risk someone else finding out. 

Some nights, though, I didn’t just watch my city from a screen or even from a roof. Some night, I donned a slick black suit and got closer to the action. It was pretty fun, actually, changing the probability as I jumped roof to roof. What are the odds that I’ll make the jump? Let’s make that 100%. What are the odds that passerby will see me? Let’s make that 0%. 

Soon, however, both Kyle and I were out at night, but our feelings never changed. Most comic books will say that supers can’t make a relationship work, but I did. I never, ever messed with his feelings, his probability. I wanted him to love me for me. I wasn’t going to decide for him. 

One fateful evening, the night of a full moon, I had snuck out to see the Freezer and Mime as they battled in an alleyway. You could see, or rather hear, them from miles away. Plus, it wasn’t far from my apartment. 

I all but ensured that they wouldn’t see me. I didn’t count on the villain’s henchmen. 

They came from behind with a tranquilizer gun. I didn’t have time to change the numbers before I blacked out. 

When I opened my eyes, everything was still black. Blindfold, I realized and started to struggle against it and the ropes that bound me. They didn’t budge. What are the odds that, I thought but didn’t get to finish. 

Tut, tut. None of that, a voice echoed in my head. My blood ran cold. I knew that voice. It was Mime, the hero from the alley, so named because she never spoke. After years of watching from the shadows, I had been found. And, she could read my mind. 

“What do you want,” I rasped, and she chuckled. 

You’re going to help me, the voice came again. 

“Why would I do that?”

Because you have no choice. Look at your little numbers. What are the odds that I’ll kill you if you don’t okay? I did so. 96%. I was tempted to change it, but an electric shock went through my body before I got the chance. 

Are you going to help me or not, Penelope? I gulped, dread filling my chest. The Mime just seemed to laugh. 

“What do you want me to do,” I asked. 

You’re going to tip the scales in my favor. Every. Time. 

“I won’t do it.”

Won’t you? 

“I won’t let you hurt people.”

I won’t hurt anybody. Those so-called superheroes will do all the work for me. 

“Mind control,” I muttered. “I won’t do it. I won’t help you.” Someone struck me, and I could only assume it was the Mime. 

Then, I’ll make you. At once, it was as if an army invaded my mind, my thoughts. What are the odds that Mr. Night will die tomorrow? What are the odds that all the heroes in the city will surrender? What are the odds of the supers destroying the city? I couldn’t help it. I tried to block her, but she was strong, changing the numbers at will. I cried out for somebody, anybody. There was no response. There was nothing, but the Mime in my head, taking my power and using it for herself. What are the odds that I’ll get what I need? What are the odds that—

“Stop,” someone shouted. I tried to look up, but the blindfold stayed in place. 

The Watcher, the Mime’s voice filled the room. I stiffened and struggled against the ropes. The Watcher was a villain, one of the worst the city had. He froze time and used his abilities to steal, kill, or kidnap. I had dipped the odds in his favor once and immediately regretted it. Two people had ended up dead and another missing. If he was here, I could only assume he wanted the same thing as the Mime did: my powers. 

5%

Without realizing it, I had asked a question and got an answer. Even as I heard the Watcher come closer, the number didn’t change. Actually, neither did anything else. He’s frozen time, I thought and continued to struggle to no avail. I wouldn’t let him use me. I wouldn’t let him hurt anyone else. Even if the odds were low, they could change in an instant. 

“Shh,” the Watcher soothed and lowered the blindfold. I found myself staring into the bluest eyes I had ever seen. “It’s okay. I’m here.” 

“No,” I muttered as he brushed his hand against my cheek. “Kyle?”

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here.” He started undoing the knots. I waited until he was done to kick the chair behind me and bolt. In an instant, he was standing right in front of me. 

“Penny, please. Let’s just get out of here.” I still wanted to find the exit and run as far as I could from the Watcher, but he was right. So, I let him lead me away. I must have blinked because I soon sound myself on the roof of our apartment building. Without another word, I scrambled away from him. 

What are the odds that he’ll hurt me, I thought to find a number I rarely saw in reality: 0. 

“I’m not going to hurt you, Penny. I promise. Just let me explain,” Kyle pleaded, and I saw the sincerity in his eyes. 

“Talk” was all I said. 

“I didn’t want to do those things, Penny. You have to believe me. The Mime isn’t the only one who can control the mind,” he began. The Puppet Master, I thought. He’d only appeared once or twice on the news, though it was only his name that was mentioned. Any villain that the heroes captured swore up and down that they’d been controlled. They all named the same person: The Puppet Master. Supposedly, he was behind every single attack. He had ravaged the city more than once. I had seen him briefly just once in the shadows, and I never wanted to mess with him again. He had these cold grey eyes that chilled me to my very soul.

“Why should I believe you,” I questioned. 

“Because it’s still me, Penny. You have to know I wouldn’t do any of those things.” I winced. A part of me knew he was right. The Kyle I knew would never hurt anyone. He was a surgeon for crying out loud. 

“Why’d you do it? All those things? Why’d you let The Puppet Master control you?”

He sighed. “Because he knew about you, and he was going to hurt you if I refused.”

“You killed and hurt those people for me,” I asked, staring in disbelief. 

“Believe me, Penny. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Nor did I want anyone to hurt you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? About all of this?”

“We’ve both had our secrets. Why didn’t you tell me?” 

I sighed. “I didn’t know how. I thought—”

“You thought that I’d leave you or turn you into the government. Yeah, I know.” I looked up at him, into those perfect blue eyes, and I saw the man I fell in love with. Sure, he wore a silly skintight outfit and a mask covered most of his face, but I still saw Kyle. 

“We could run away,” I blurted. 

“Run to where,” Kyle scoffed. 

“Anywhere. Somewhere where The Puppet Master can’t hurt any of us.”

“What about our family?”

What are the odds that the Puppet Master will hurt our family if we leave? I didn’t even need to change the numbers. 

0%

“He won’t hurt them,” I answered. 

“And us?”

What are the odds that the Puppet Master will hurt us if we leave?

0%

What are the odds that he’ll send someone after us?

0%

“He won’t hurt us. Everything’s coming up 0,” I declared. Kyle just shook his head.

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it,” a voice asked, and both of us whirled to the source: a villain. I recognized his as Dante, the lord of darkness, able to fade into shadow at will. 

“The Master is merciful,” he continued. “As long as you stay out his business, he will allow you to live in peace with no fear for your lives, but you cannot don your suits to fight against him. Those are his conditions.” I looked at Kyle, my loyal husband, and saw him nod. 

“He won’t control Ky-The Watcher,” I asked, and the man shook his head. 

“Once you leave the city, you are out of his control.” 

“We’ll do it,” Kyle decided. 

“I thought as much,” Dante said and handed us a couple of plane tickets. “Your flight leaves in the morning.” With that, the man faded into the darkness. I shuddered when he did. 

“Come on. We need to pack,” Kyle muttered and hurried to the door leading downstairs. I took one last look at the city before running after him. 

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I muttered as we stood at the airport, luggage in hand. Kyle shrugged. 

“Me neither,” he admitted, “but here we are.” Soon, we found ourselves on a plane heading to the rural England. We made ourselves a life there, away from the Puppet Master and the heroes of the city. Our powers remained, but there was hardly anyone to save, though Kyle became one of the only doctors for miles. I got a job at the local newspaper, nowhere as glamorous as Kyle’s, but I did what I loved and what I was good at. 

To this day, though, there’s a town where a woman can seemingly predict the future and a man seems to have all the time in the world. A town where the weather changed according to a woman’s will. A town where a man can perform the hardest surgeries in have the time. 

“What are the odds that we’ll live happily ever after here,” the man once asked. 

“100%,” the woman responds, and the man just smiles. 

“I like those odds.”