Secret Power

“Can you control fire?”

“No.”

“Can you breathe underwater?”

“No.”

“Can you become invisible? Now that’d be cool. You could sneak into a girl’s public bath–“

“Geez! No!” Lester looked at his friend in utter disgust. And he wonders why none of the girls want to hang out with him. “When are you gonna stop asking stupid questions?”

“When you tell me what the heck your superpower is!” Tim casually put his arm around Lester as they walked on the way to their favorite fast food restaurant. “Dude, your 16^th birthday was last week. It’s been four years. The virus should activate now.”

Oh yeah, the virus. Some time ago, clusters of blue fungi started growing near pine trees and spreading quickly. It wasn’t alarming until four years later when several teenagers and young adults who hiked in pine tree forests were reported to have mutated in various ways. Some woke up having a different eye color, a number of lactose intolerant people were suddenly able to tolerate milk, and most got what the media generally called “superpowers”.

From here, superheroes and supervillains came to life. Crime went on a whole new level. Robbery was the most frequent. As seen in the security cameras shown on the news, vaults would mysteriously open without anyone being there, money would float out like little ghosts, and bags of gold would vanish in thin air. Sometimes, the security guards would get hypnotized to do all the dirty work. It’d be nice if there was a superhero to stop them but it seems like most of them are either on the bad side or are too busy to care.

Lester didn’t pay much attention when it was explained in class but he got the gist of the lesson. It worked like a dormant virus that activates after four years but would only stay active for two years due to the immune system finally kicking in. The virus, carried by the spores, would invade the cells and seep into the nucleus. It would latch on to the nucleotides of DNA and mutate it once the virus activates. Oddly enough, it prefers boys and young men as the hosts so there have been no cases of women getting mutated.

“What makes you think I even have a superpower?” Lester asked.

“One: you still look normal or more or less you; and two: because I developed a superpower last week.” Lester gave him a look that said, “And so…?” Tim explained further, “We hung out together in a pine tree forest on your 12^th birthday. If I mutated, then you must have mutated too.”

Pine tree forests were shut off to the public to prevent anyone from having dangerous superpowers (certain areas couldn’t prevent that because the pine trees are practically everywhere). Some people made a move to burn the forests, but the fungi would just pop right back the following day. Despite this, many kids and teens wanting to get a chance to have a temporary superpower would sneak in and camp till dawn. Tim happened to be one of those enthusiastic kids and Lester was dragged along with the promise that Tim will give his prized PC game as a birthday gift. Besides, it was the new normal for boys to get mutated.

“Prove it.”

Tim outstretched his hand. “Give me your cellphone.”

A few awkward seconds passed by. Lester stared at him. Tim sighed, “Dude, I said, ‘Give me your cellphone.’”

“Are you supposed to be charmspeaking me?” Lester asked, clearly confused. He got out his cellphone anyways.

“Charmspeak? What am I? A princess? Gimme that.” He snatched the phone from Lester and turned it on. “Right now, your phone is at 34%. Watch this.”

A second later, a charging symbol appeared near the battery icon. The number became 35 then 36 and went up faster and faster until it hit full charge. Tim returned the phone to Lester. “I can charge anything as long as it has a battery.”

“Wow. That’s awesome. I don’t have to worry about forgetting my charger anymore.” He joked.

“Don’t have me charging your phone all the time. Charging stuff feels draining. It’s like my own energy is getting transferred. Anyways, now that I’ve shown you my capabilities, you gotta show me yours.”

“Fair enough. My superpower is knowing what will happen to someone in 10 seconds just by looking at them.”

“Seriously?” Tim’s face gave off the impression that Lester’s superpower is lame. Nonetheless, he was curious. “Show me.” Tim pointed at a tall man who was smoking on the side of the restaurant. “What will happen to that guy in 10 seconds?”

“How about we order first? I’m hungry.” Lester quickened his pace and entered the establishment. Tim huffed in annoyance and simply followed. After placing their order and getting their food, they sat down and resumed the conversation.

“Okay, enough delays. Let’s try again.” Tim gestured towards the cashier lady they ordered from. “What’s gonna happen to her in 10 seconds?”

 Lester took one look at her and immediately replied, “She’ll ask the customer if he has a smaller bill.”

A few seconds later, they heard the cashier lady say, “Sir, do you have a smaller bill? That would be great.”

“Not bad, Lester.” Tim commented. He pointed towards another one. “How about that lady who looks like a Karen?”

“She’ll ask for the manager.”

As if on cue, the woman in question loudly told the staff, “Where’s your manager? I need to talk to him.”

Tim laughed. “Even without your superpower, it’s predictable that Karen will want to speak with the manager.” He looked around for a potential subject. “One last." He pointed at a sporty looking girl who was still wearing her cheerleading outfit. "That cute girl a few tables over.”

“Forget about her. Her boyfriend is coming.”

The main door opened and revealed a high schooler wearing a school varsity jacket. He smiled and walked towards the girl’s direction. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before sitting down.

“Shame.” Tim looked disappointingly at the girl and also seemed disappointed in Lester’s superpower. “Can’t you go beyond ten seconds or know a little more information like names and stuff?”

“Sorry, dude. That’s all I can do.”

“Alex can make objects levitate, Carl can fly, Mark can phase through things, and all you can do is tell what will happen to someone in ten seconds. At least I have the power to recharge batteries.”

Lester smiled. “Yeah. It’s not as cool as the big shots at school.”

"Poor you." Tim showed fake sympathy and switched topic. "So, who was that girl you were talking to during recess?"

~

In truth, Lester’s superpower really wasn’t as cool as the others. It was cooler. More powerful even.

Telling what will happen to someone in ten seconds was just one of the many perks of being able to control time.