Chapter 1 - Street Rat

Point-of-View: Zoraiz Rafayet

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Crap, crap, crap! They're gaining on me!

"Stop, you fucking thief!" Yelled one of my pursuers.

"Oh, yeah, sure, let me think about it, dickwad!" I yelled back sarcastically, as I shot through an alleyway, knocking over some trash cans to slow them down.

"When I get my hands on you, you little Indian punk-...!" Exclaimed the other one.

"IF you get your hands on me...and that's a big if, you fat sack of shit!" I interrupted, as I knocked over some trashcans to slow them down...also, I'm not Indian...

Anyway, I better get away, because after saying all that, they're gonna kill me for sure if they catch me! I could see the main road now, I'm almost out of the alley...good thing this didn't lead to a dead end, or I'd be so screwed right now.

There's a fair bit of traffic, crossing the road won't be easy...perfect! I shot straight forward, dashing out of the alley and past the sidewalk, stepping onto the street.

I sprang forward to avoid a motorcycle, before swiftly halting for a moment to let a truck pass and then dashing for the other side at top speed and narrowly jumping over the hood of a car, landing on the pavement as the driver angrily slammed on his horn a couple of times before driving off.

I then leapt off the street and onto the pavement on the other side, before tucking and rolling before sprinting for another alley, turning around briefly to see...that my pursuers was still on the other side...heh, see ya, sucker!

"Damn it, get back here, you filthy street rat!"

Wow, talk about original, that makes me feel like Aladdin...except that I'll never become a prince or whatever, and I don't have a monkey...huh, maybe I should get a monkey. Well, anyway, time to get to safety...

...

...

Half an hour later, I was back at the place that I'd called home for the entirety of my life...a trailer park. Home sweet home, indeed. Oh, right, I guess I should introduce myself now. My name's Zoraiz Rafayet, nineteen years old.

I'm short and on the thin side, I wasn't very strong but I was confident in my speed and agility...which probably isn't a normal thing to say when introducing yourself, but I spend most of my life running away from angry white men, so 'normal' doesn't really apply to me.

I had medium-long straight brown hair which I grew over my forehead in the front and fell over my left ear to the side, and I had dark green eyes and brown skin. I was wearing a dark blue hoodie and jeans, both very worn out, as were all my clothes. And I also wore a face mask whenever I went out, in order to hide my face...and also because the air in this place is filthy, and I literally can't afford to get sick since I have basically no money.

I live in New York City, I was born here to an immigrant mother, she'd come here from Pakistan. But she was taken advantage of, scammed and ended up broke, homeless and in debt. She wound up becoming a trailer park prostitute, and not long after that, I was born. Naturally, I have no idea who my father is, and honestly, I couldn't care less.

I didn't exactly have a typical childhood, but I was happy enough, my mother took good care of me. However, it wasn't long before she got really sick and was unable to work anymore...I tried to get a job to support her, but no one would hire trailer park trash, and underage trailer park trash at that...in my desperation, I then resorted to stealing to try and cure her. But all I could do was delay her death and prolong her suffering...she passed away four years ago.

"Hey, Indian brat! There was a big crash and ruckus coming from ya trailer, you got something in there?" Inquired my meth-head neighbor, a foul odor creeping into my nostrils as he approached me.

I was just outside the entrance to the trailer park, and he was blocking my path...ugh, he stinks, and just looking at him turns my stomach...several big, fat pimples all over his face, many of them oozing reddish-yellow pus, and his teeth were practically blackened and rotting.

"For the last time, you cesspool, I'm not Ind-...fuck it, whatever. What are you talking about, a big crash? You were probably just high and imagining shit, you delusional junkie," I responded venemously, "Now, move it, you're in my way."

"Damn lousy ass kid, ain't got no respect...," He muttered spitefully, wandering off with a grumble.

I let out a sigh and pulled down my face mask before entering the trailer park and heading for my trailer, the only home I'd ever known. I had a backpack full of fruits and snacks I'd stolen from a supermarket. I avoided stealing from small shops or stall vendors, I made a point of only stealing from larger corporations.

Admittedly, that made it harder to get away, but it's a matter of principle. Okay, that's not entirely true, it's just easier to blend in with the crowd in large supermarkets, not to mention more exit points...with small stores, it's a lot harder to steal without being spotted. Those two guys that had been chasing me earlier were security guards, but fortunately for me, they were slow security guard.

I then paused for a moment as my trailer came into sight...it looked like in a slightly different position from before, like it'd been moved a bit. And I could see some dents forming from the top. What happened here?

I rushed over to the trailer and opened the door, stepping inside to see...a hole in the roof of the trailer. And on the floor was what looked like a giant, dimly glowing marble...the floor was heavily dented at the spot where it had landed.

What the hell-...did this thing fall from the sky? And did it seriously hit my trailer with so much force that it moved? The meth-head...he mentioned a crash, I just assumed he made it up to mess with me or imagined it.

I put down my bag, unzipped it and took out an apple, taking a bite before cautiously walking towards the object. Give me a break, my life is shitty enough as it is, I don't need crap like this. How the hell am I supposed to fix the hole in my ceiling?

What is this thing anyway? It looks like glass, but I don't see so much as a scratch on it, glass would surely have shattered if it fell from high enough to burst through my ceiling AND severely dent my floor.

Maybe it fell out of a helicopter or something? Curiosity getting the better of me, I reached down to try and pick it up, when suddenly, as I touched it...it started glowing brightly, my body heating up rapidly.

Crap, is this thing radioactive or something!? I...I can't pull my hand away! It feels like I'm roasting alive, and the object was glowing blindingly bright. Wh-what the...!? What...what is this? I feel like my senses are getting overwhelmed.

Well, I guess this is it, looks like I'm about to d-...all of a sudden, it stopped glowing and my body felt normal again...and the marble thingy was gone. Oh...I'm alive. Huh.

The glowing ball had completely vanished...what just happened? Did I imagine the whole thing? No, the floor is still dented and the hole in the ceiling was still there too. Okay, uh...now I'm starting to get a little freaked out. You know what, screw this, I've got enough worries as it is...I'm just gonna pretend this never happened.

I should, uh, patch up the hole in the roof with some cardboard and duct tape, yeah! Don't want to get water in here when it rains, after all-...my line of thought was suddenly cut off as the sound of police sirens rang out outside.

Huh? What now? The cops are here? Why!? Damn it, this is turning out to be a really shitty day. They come here relatively often, since plenty of drug dealers and whatnot live here. I've never had an encounter with the cops, but I always get a sense of anxiety whenever I hear those sirens.

I pressed my ear against the wall of the trailer to try and hear what was going on...it sounded like the cars had stopped a few meters away. I could hear voices...

"Yes, officer, that trailer over there. The little Indian brat who lives there often comes back with a full backpack, I always reckoned there was something fishy about that."

Fuck.

"Understood, thank you for your cooperation, sir. Alright, boys, let's surround the trailer and apprehend the suspect."

Shit, I need to get away, NOW! I dashed for the door, swung it open and bolted out at top speed. This is probably a really, really dumb move on my part, but if I get arrested, that'll be it for me, I'll most likely be in jail forever. And I don't want that, I'd rather die. Huh, that came off a bit more emo than I'd intended.

"Stop right there! Halt, or we will shoot you!"

Damn it...I need to run faster, or I'm dead, I need to get away...huh, I never really realized this till right now, but despite the fact that I'd rather die than get locked up for the rest of my life...I don't actually want to die.

Yeah, even if my life isn't exactly a glamorous one, I don't want to die...however, like I said, I think I'd rather die than have my freedom taken away. Even if I'm homeless and broke, so long as I'm still alive and free, I can still forge a path for myself...someday!

The sound of a gunshot then echoed out behind me, and a bullet shot past my right ear, narrowly missing the side of my head, my blood running cold as I heard it whiz past me. They're shooting at me, I need to hurry! Faster...come on, I need to run faster...!

.

.

.

.

.

Suddenly, as several shots rang out behind me, it felt like time had slowed down to a crawl...the fuck is this?

Oh, is my life starting to flash before my eyes, is that what this is? No, that's not it...my eyesight felt like it was supercharged, everything around me was moving in slow motion.

I could see the bullets clearly, I could see them spinning towards me and cutting through the air. But while everything around me was moving in slo-mo, I myself wasn't. And while I wasn't exactly outrunning the bullets, I was more than fast enough to dodge them with relative ease.

So, uh, I don't really know what's going on here, but you know what, I'm taking full advantage of it, whatever the hell this is! I continued to evade the bullets effortlessly, and then shot for the exit of the trailer park, clouds of dust bursting out behind me as I ran...I can't for the life of me figure out why I'm suddenly so crazy fast, but I'm sure as hell not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, I'm getting the hell out of here!

...

About an hour later, I was several miles away from the trailer park, hiding up in the rooftop of an apartment building, trying to catch my breath. I've never been in this area before...I have no idea how to get back, and all I've got on me right now are the clothes I was wearing, a dark blue hoodie, black jeans and worn out sneakers, and my phone was in my pocket.

Wish I'd thought to grab my backpack before running, but it's not like going back to the trailer park is an option at this point. Well, whatever, I don't really have that many belongings anyway...I can always just steal more clothes for myself, I suppose. I'm feeling a little bit tired and worn out right now though, once I catch my breath, I'll go find some water.

At least I still have my phone on me...I can steal a new charger for it later. Let's see...okay, good, I've got about forty percent left. Maybe scrolling through some memes will help take my mind off of all this insanity for a bit, this is all too much to process. I opened up my Twitter app and began scroll-...wait, hold on, what the hell...that's me.

Blurry slow-mo clips of me running away at superhuman speed were everywhere...most of the comments indicated that the majority of people thought this was fake, which was good, I guess. The police are definitely looking for me though.

Damn it, guess I can't put this off after all, I need to wrap my head around this and figure out what the hell's going on here...so, now that I've gotten a chance to calm down and think things through, it's pretty obvious that that giant glass ball thingy is the cause of my sudden burst of power.

But is this really happening...it doesn't make any logical sense. And most importantly, is this power temporary or permanent? I'm honestly not sure which I'd prefer...it feels like my head is spinning. Suddenly, I was snapped out of it as I heard some commotion coming from the alley below.

I leaned over the side of the rooftop to see what was going on...a young girl was surrounded by a group of thugs. She looked like she was a teenager around sixteen or seventeen, and from the sound of it, the men were barking at her to take her clothes off. I...I shouldn't get involved...I need to lay low right now...

"N-no, please let me go, I-I'll give you all my money!" She wailed in terror, tears pouring down her face.

"Hahaha, don't worry about that, sweetheart...we'll take your money afterwards! Now be a good girl and we won't get too rough with ya! Heck, we might even let you leave alive if you're nice and obedient! Now get on with it...off with those clothes, and do it nice n' slow, you hear?" Sneered one of the thugs, sporting a very noticeable erection.

"Someone help me, please!" She screamed in desperation, tears running down her face as her body trembled, her back firmly against the dead end of the alley.

"You little bitch, looks like rough treatment it is!"

Damn it...I don't think I can ignore this...

As two of the thugs stepped forwards towards her, I pulled up my face mask and jumped over the side of the rooftop and onto the fire escape metal staircase with a reluctant sigh, my super senses kicking in again as my heart rate went up...I then raced down the stairs, the force of my footsteps denting the metal stairs.

The impact caused cracks to began appearing in the wall as I raced down towards the thugs, reaching the ground within a couple of seconds...and losing control a bit as I reached the last stair, before crashing onto one of the two bandits that had stepped towards the girl.

He let out a yell of surprise and crashed onto the other one, their heads slamming against each other and knocking them both unconscious. Huh, that worked out-...I mean, uh, I totally meant to do that.

"Who the fuck are you, Indian pig!? The hell'd'ya come from!?"

Again, I'm not Indian, but nice to meet you too, racist asshole...

"Oh, I'm no one, just a random street rat passing by," I responded dryly...well, whatever, since I decided to get involved, I might as well enjoy myself, I suppose...

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