7 Prologue 7: Navel of the World
When Jordan Fisher was a baby, he didn't just drink his mama's milk, he opened a trading deal for it, with his laughter and infant gibberish as valuables for the transaction. Even his cold mother was unable to refuse such a tempting offer...!
When he was a toddler, he didn't just walk, he skated, and did air tricks like Tony Hawk!
Basically, his triple-digit IQ was on a level where he had to tone it down a little in front of others or else risk being taken to a government facility. This kind of prodigy good at everything was truly special in the world, and he knew this at a young age himself.
It was thanks to his intellect that he was able to rise as much as he could in society even while being restricted by staunch capitalism that valued money over competence. That said, he still had great opportunities others would trade a limb for.
Such a genius would normally look down on others for being 'dumb', but Jordan didn't feel that way...
It was at a busy crossroad did his actions speak more than a thousand words ever could. On his way back from college, he stopped at a traffic light and waited for the green man to appear patiently.
It was there he saw a strange man he normally didn't notice would cross the same road as him at these times. Though old, the man's clothing style was kinda funky with an eighties vibe to it. This made him wonder why he didn't notice such an eccentric character before. His eyes dropped down to the white-haired old man's phone before asking:
"You like Action Rangers?" That multicoloured spandex Anime about heroes was his favourite.
The cloudy-eyed hippie who seemed lost in thought didn't bother answering him. This didn't bother him though as he felt good feelings towards the stranger who had the same interests as him.
Going back to his business, he waited for what seemed like an excruciatingly long five minutes for the light to change. There was a shifting change from a busy to empty road in front of him as he did so, which seemed to be causing someone who had only just arrived at a fast speed to feel great impatience. It was to the point he jumped out to jaywalk as soon as the road became empty again.
Just as the college student was halfway through making a break for it, someone grabbed by the hood and dragged him back onto the street. A flurry of swears was about to come out of the student who felt he had almost been strangled by that action until a truck drove past where he had almost jaywalked. The youth felt a chilling fright...!
"Thank you." An honest expression of gratitude and apology was written on his face as he spoke.
"No problem." Jordan smiled at made sure to put his classmate at ease, only to glare at the old man after the green man lit up and the people waiting finally started to cross the road. In that short moment, he noticed something others didn't.
"You... Why didn't you stop him?" He asked the old hippie who was genuinely surprised by his anger.
"I hesitated...?" The eccentric man responded unconvincingly, picking his ear as he did so.
"I saw your eyes... You knew what he was going to do and still didn't stop him. What if he died?"
"Sorry, who are you and who is 'he' anyway? Do you know each other? Don't stop me over something so small." The white-haired man scoffed and looked down on him, leaving him to stamp his feet in fury feeling as if his trust was betrayed.
He couldn't believe that such people still existed on Earth. Even though what he said was reasonable to an extent, he didn't like that someone who had the same interests as he would act like a bystander.
This was especially true because he noticed that the old man had been watching the spectacle in silence. If he really hesitated to reach out, he wouldn't have a problem. However, his intuition was telling him that it was a 'refusal' to help rather than hesitation m. It made him sigh, making him have no choice but to let it go this time...
Coincidentally, it seemed that the next time they'd meet wouldn't be that long after splitting. The old hippie who was indifferent to the lives of others sat in a café quietly before noticing someone familiar.
It hasn't been that long since he saw the naive youth who he believed to be 'still wet behind the ears', which made him interested on who that woman he was talking to with like she was a 'client'.
"Aren't you a little young to be a detective?" The woman in modest clothing voiced in confusion.
"No ones too young to do pursue justice."
"How cute~" She smiled before changing her expression to nervousness as she continued:
"The stalker I talked about has been more active lately. I think it's better if I ask someone else-"
"No, please! I assure you I'm reliable. This case will also help me out a lot." From the way he spoke, it seemed like he was in dire need of money. It was to the point that the old hippie believed he would hear a long monologue about some sick mother of his.
So that kid wanted to play a hero? The old man smiled with self-depreciation, believing that such a young kid hasn't learnt the rules of life yet. Only someone naive would believe heroes existed...
He watched as the kid tried to play a bodyguard for his client despite looking short and scrawny. The two of them walking side by side looked like an aunt and her younger nephew out for a walk.
It was at a certain point while spectating how this would turn out from afar after getting interested did he see someone wearing a black face mask over his mouth run up from across the street and push the woman into a dark alley at the side.
The woman didn't even have the time to scream nor did Jordan expect such a thing to happen. He was a second late in reacting but he was able to follow the two into the alley to see her standing her ground against the man who was assaulting her.
The stalker covered his lower body as it seemed like she had hit him with a truly ruthless kick down below. The client's purse also seemed prepared as she pepper-sprayed the guy into screaming:
"Y-you dare?! I'll fckin' get you back for this!" He spoke while holding his eyes, which gave a good opportunity for Jordan to strike him before handing him off to the authorities. As someone who had trained boxing in a gym, he was a great striker.
"Sorry..." The young detective spoke to the stalker before throwing out a punch faster than most.
The sound of someone getting hit resounded, but the person most shocked by this was the old hippie who had been watching from the exit of the small alleyway. What he couldn't believe wasn't the way the punch was thrown out... It was the target hit.
"Argh!" The client he had taken the request from held her nose as she couldn't believe he hit her.
Her face twisted with anger and agony as she regained her composure before shouting at him:
"What do you think you're doing?!" Even after calling him out, he seemed more concerned with the 'stalker' she beat down. He kneeled down and heard the large man with a sharp tongue out. It was after doing so that he seemed more confident.
"You're a con artist. I knew there was something really 'fake' about the way your facial muscles twitched." Jordan's words only made her look at him like she was wondering what nonsense he was spouting. Who would look at a face so closely?
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then you won't mind following me to the police station, right?" The youth's tone was friendly.
"...I thought you needed money." Not even bothering to hide it anymore, she confirmed his suspicions by bringing that up. In truth, he really did need money to pay for his mum's hospital bill.
"I d-don't take dirty money..." He stuttered as he really wanted to eat his own conscience for money right now. The only thing keeping him from doing so wasn't ideals, but a dream he had as a kid.
He really loved heroes, and sacrificing something to save someone else was indeed 'fun' for him.
It made him feel like those heroes in comics!
The old hippie was shocked as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had underestimated the kid's prudence and adaptability, but most of all, he saw something that he would never have believed if not for seeing it himself, which once seemed like an impossibility to him. The memories of an old friend who was quite similar to this decisive youth started to slowly become clearer in his mind.
So there were others like his old friend...?
Even though this was probably the best time to rush in to help, the heroism displayed only moved him to the extent he wanted to see how this incident would end. After all, people had to take responsibility for what their decisions entail.
"It looks like I'm beaten." She put the pepper spray back into her purse and raised her arms in peace.
Jordan was swayed by her words as he reached out for her wrist and grabbed it, only to be heavily hit in the groin the same way as the man behind him. He realised that she misdirected him by making his gaze go upwards, which was to hide the surprise attack she was 'starting with'. Then once again took out her pepper spray to blind him.
There was no holding back. A cloud made by the spray covered him as she took a step back and was about to finish him off by bashing the spray can into his face. A voice resounded before she did so:
"I already saw that coming." He accurately backhanded the can away and was able to defend his eyes good enough. Even though it still stung, it wasn't enough to blind the youth like the fraud victim still holding his face on the floor behind him.
The old man shook his head as he saw this, as it seemed like he thought too highly of the college student. Did already he think he had won? That was an arrogant thought, as the wicked woman spat through the pepper cloud and hit his right eye.
There was an inflaming and burning sensation spread over his eye as took a step back, grunting in pain as he did so. An ordinary person would have fallen to the ground in agony as it seemed like the spray's potency was above what's usually sold.
He planned to tackle the girl to the ground as a last resort, until he heard the victim about behind him:
"A gun!" These two words was all he needed to make out what she was doing even without looking at her. Although he couldn't see her, he used his understanding of her actions and thoughts to derive an image of her through many calculations.
The white-haired old man's eyes widened as he believed the woman would 'silence' the kid right there and then. It was unfortunate to see, yet it was also a scene that would reaffirm his strong beliefs.
The female con artist was about to pull the trigger and take the kid's life, but the silencer on top of the muzzle of the gun was redirected by a frantic kick thrown all while leaning his body back. The youth was about to fall, making him open to being killed...!
As he was falling, many trains of thought went through Jordan's head as he realised he was in a hopeless situation. Hundreds of stimulations in his head were telling him that his options for survival were zero, and that he'd die after falling over.
Nothing he did would be fast enough to stop her from pointing the gun at him faster than he could retaliate. It was a situation in front of death's doors that made him question his decisions until now.
Was he satisfied with how he would die?
Jordan believed it to be so...
'Sorry, Mom...' He thought as his eyes closed in acceptance that he would die in a few moments.
However, the world hadn't abandoned him yet...!
Just before he hit the floor, the victim curled up behind him jumped off the ground and tacked him with a heavy lunge. This action was enough to throw the youth towards the flustered woman who was about to point her gun at them once more.
The fast-thinking youth intercepted her hand with a slap before throwing another punch towards her.
A light of amazement flashed in the old man's eyes as he wondered if Jordan was using a technique or was just naturally ambidextrous. For the sake of greater speed, the youth kept his hand unclenched and his body relaxed all until his hand hit her.
This allowed him to throw the most agile barrage the old hippie had seen in the entirety of his long life. One punch followed the other as the crafty fighter of a woman was beaten back until she was cornered by the dead-end the alleyway lead to.
Her eyes were vicious as she gritted her teeth to endure his strikes. She was able to fight back a little. However, it didn't seem like it would take long for the youth fighting her to disarm and capture her. The woman knew she needed an opening.
Not knowing what she was planning, the old man continued to watch in awe as he saw Jordan accurately hit her vitals with enough accuracy you'd think he was as experienced as the woman.
The white-haired old geezer knew thinking that would be nonsense though. He realised that it seemed like the young detective was able to think at a speed far faster than your average person. It was why he could react so 'cleanly' despite thinking on his feet. Normal people his age would have screwed up when she pulled out a gun.
It was at that point she grappled him and pointed her gun towards the victim who had tripped previously after tackling the youth. Jordan's eyes dilated as twisted a kick from behind to redirect the gun upwards once more. Oddly, despite not kicked her hand too hard, she let go of her gun at that moment, and the opening when his foot left the ground was used to full effect as she threw him.
A clear gunshot resounded... and another was about to be heard once he properly hit the floor.
The old man wondered what kind of life this woman lived through before this to be able to pull off such a spectacular manoeuvre. Jordan felt his back ache really bad as he slammed onto the ground with a thud. The pain almost made him blackout as she quickly retrieved her gun and pulled the trigger after pointing it towards him without hesitation.
The old geezer closed his eyes as he was disappointed as the gun barrel slid back and was about to shoot the bullet cocked into position. It was the lack of a gunshot that made him open his eyes once again, as it seemed quite incredulous.
Even the silencer couldn't completely muffle the sound of a gunshot, so why was it silent?
The old hippie opened his eyes to see that Jordan acted just as she was pulling the trigger and the gun barrel slid back in preparation to fire the bullet inside. He managed to dismantle the barrel off the gun with inhuman precision impossible for others.
'He recognised the model with those eyes...?' The young detective was only barely opening his left eye as followed up with a kick to her knee. The female con artist was then knocked out as he slammed the metal gun barrel on top of her head.
Her brain was shaken, blacking out after being hit.
Even the victim on the ground was shocked since it was clear to him that the youth baited her. No, it was more accurate to say that it 'looked like' the young detective had baited the woman into firing.
How could he have known the gun's structure? It sounded to coincidental for him to have read it in a book. The victim was about to thank the honourable youth, only scream at the sight of blood. Jordan had been shot midway through the scuffle, and strength left his body as his knees buckled to the ground. A red hole near his heart.
The victim ran away in panic, leaving Jordan to sit there alone as the life drained from his body.
It was only at this moment did the old geezer stepped toward with a cold gaze, not being able to understand one thing. As life was leaving the youth's body, he asked something on his mind:
"That coward didn't even call an ambulance. Don't you regret saving someone as miserable as that?"
"It's... fine..." The young detective spoke as his blood was forming a puddle on the ground.
The youth's consciousness waned as he closed his eyes, falling into an eternal sleep before the old hippie could ask any more questions. He couldn't understand that genuinely satisfied expression on the youth's face after he was abandoned to die.
For the first time, the old geezer started to tremble as the young detective's body was going cold.
"Damn!" He roared before a burst of magical energy impossible for normal humans to perceive released from his body, then he put his hand over the wound and tried to pull him from death's grip.
"My name is Alex Stuman, you best remember that you owe me for using this on you. You owe me a life! Damn it! Goddamn everything!" The old man continued with a twisted face as if he was throwing away his own dreams to save this one kid.
This was how their relationship started, and how the youth eventually became Alex's entire world.
The navel of his world, to just be precise...
