009 THE BASTARD STOLE MY FOOD
Damen's stomach twisted when he heard the teacher call him.
"What the hell should I do now?" he thought, forcing himself to stay calm.
The room seemed to shrink around him, every gaze a weight pressing down. One wrong move, one suspiciously high reading… and everything could unravel.
Damen shuffled toward the machine, deliberately slow, each step calculated.
"Hurry up, you… tra—!" Miss Poney's voice cracked with anger, almost breaking into words no teacher should speak.
"Trash!!!"
Her fury wasn't just at Damen's slow pace—it was at his grades. Damen's poor performance dragged down the class average, tarnishing her record. Her career prospect depended on her class's average score.
She wanted Damen gone.
If he proved worthless in the Mock exam, she could push for his expulsion and restore her class's prestige.
"Hmmmm hemmmm"
The machine hummed, ready to scan every inch of Damen's body and squeeze out all his secrets.
Damen's chest tightened.
"Damn it…there is no escape today", he thought, swallowing hard. "Come on… bring me a savior," he prayed.
"A savior…"
A voice cut through the chaos all of a sudden. The savior was here.
"Damen, you bastard!"
The scanners froze. In the crowd, Beck Dark stormed forward. Damen seized the moment and darted from the booth.
"Who dares interrupt my test?!" Miss Poney shrieked furiously.
Beck's glare cut through the hall. "Damen Dark, do you know my father is sick in the hospital? How dare you come to school and leave him there unattended!"
Damen's face twisted in feigned shock. "My uncle… he is in the hospital? What happened?"
"Damen Dark! Back to the test booth this instant!" Miss Poney bellowed.
Damen clutched his head, feigning anguish. "No, ma'am. My uncle is in the hospital. I can't concentrate… I can't take the test in this state."
"This will only take a few seconds! Get back on the booth now!" she screamed. All her plans to rid Damen would go to waste if he wasn't tested today and failed miserably.
Inside, Damen's mind raced.
His uncle's hospitalization was a perfect excuse to skip the Mock test, but he was already at the booth. One step inside, and it would be over. His secret would be revealed.
On the other hand, Miss Poney wouldn't relent… Damen's refusal now to take the test could risk expulsion.
He had to tread carefully.
"Damen Dark, get on the booth now, or you'll be expelled," Miss Poney warned, her voice sharp as a whip.
"Damn it… there really is no escape," Damen thought, tension coiling in his chest.
Then his savior spoke again.
"I knew you wouldn't let him go… How dare you disrespect the heir of the city's heroes!" Beck yelled at Miss Poney, holding up two gleaming medals.
Damen's eyes widened.
He recognized them instantly. "Huh, I was wondering where that bastard Ralph kept these."
These were the posthumous awards given to his parents, long ago taken by Ralph and Melody and the medals were purposefully hidden from him.
Heroes' Medals were highly valued status symbols for ordinary citizens. They could demand favors from the authorities- including the school.
Ralph was afraid Damen would use these medals to gain favors from people who recognized them like his parent's friends maybe… and with their help break from their grasp and control.
They would lose the city's allowance that Damen was entitled to and also the salary from his work in the Aur mine. So, they kept the medals hidden from him.
Who would have thought Beck would wield them now, just to get him excused from taking care of his own father in hospital?
"Genius…the medals!! Beck, you thought of this?" Damen's mind raced with admiration.
"Heroes… or not, Damen Dark must take the mock test today!" Miss Poney screamed.
The testing hall door swung open, and a commanding figure entered. It was Principal Dean.
"What's the commotion here?" he asked, surveying the crowd.
"This student refuses the mock test," Miss Poney snapped, pointing at Damen.
"Is that so? And why?" Principal Dean's gaze shifted to Damen.
Damen dropped to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. "My uncle is in the hospital! I can't take a test in this state! I must go see him!"
"He's the heir of the city's heroes! You can't stop him from visiting his uncle!" Beck shouted, stepping forward holding the medals.
Principal Dean's eyes fell on the medals. He walked to Beck, lifted them, and inspected the engravings. "Indeed… these are Heroes Medals from the city."
Damen sprang forward and snatched the medals. "These are mine!" he said firmly, giving Beck a nod of sincere gratitude.
Then he turned to the principal. "Seeing my uncle on his deathbed is more important than any mock test."
The principal considered this briefly, then shrugged at Miss Poney. "It's just a mock test. Why make such a fuss over whether the student takes it or not?"
"But…", Miss Poney tried to protest. She couldn't tell the principal her true intentions.
Turning to Damen, he said, "I wasn't aware the heir of heroes attended this school. Go see your uncle now. And come to me anytime if there's a problem."
Joy surged through Damen.
The principal's simple words shattered his predicament. Miss Poney could no longer override him, no matter her fury.
He wouldn't be expelled from school.
He bolted from the hall, Beck following close behind, both of them grinning as they left chaos and tension in their wake.
-----
Damen strode out of the school, glancing back at Beck, who was panting as he ran to catch up.
"Bye-bye," Damen called, waving his parents' Heroes Medals with a grin.
"Hey, you bastard! Why didn't you go home last night? … (panting) Now go to the hospital and care for my father!" Beck shouted, breathlessly.
"You care for him yourself. You are his bastard, not me," Damen shot back coolly.
Damen understood now the reason Beck came to save him. His mother probably made him stay in the hospital to care for his father while she went out for her usual card games.
Beck didn't want the chore and tried to make Damen do it.
"How dare you?!" Beck screeched, his eyes wide.
He froze, stunned by Damen's sudden boldness. The usually pliant boy, so obedient and cautious, was suddenly defiant.
Damen ignored the outburst. "Whose idea was it to bring these medals here?" he asked instead.
Beck's grin widened. "Ain't I a genius? I knew the school wouldn't let you leave on the day of your Mock test, so I brought the medals just in case. They had no choice but to let you go once they saw them."
"You really are a genius," Damen said before adding, "Your mother probably doesn't know you took the medals?"
"Of course they don't know, I took them from their hidden compartments", he replied.
"Great… what would you do just to get off a chore… you really are my savior", Damen said, then nodding once before turning and vanishing into the streets.
Beck tried to chase him, but Damen was gone in an instant.
The chubby boy stopped, panting, his eyes wide opened. "How did he run so fast?" Then realization hit him. "That bastard… he must've stolen my share of food from the house!"
------
010 IS THAT SUPERPOWER
Damen felt exhilaration surge through him. For the first time in years, he felt free. The long suffering under his uncle's family was undone and it was all because of the DemCoin mining app.
"I need to think this through," he told himself. "This app could change my life, but it could just as easily destroy me."
History had shown what happened when extraordinary powers surfaced.
Meta-humans rose, only to be met with suspicion, control, and chains. If anyone discovered the truth about DemCoin—its strange, unethical power—they would not treat him kindly.
"I must never be caught using this app," he whispered, sealing the vow.
His thoughts turned to the future. "Where do I go from here? I can't go back to school…not until the final exams. Otherwise, Miss Poney would find every excuse to test him again and … I'll never return to Ralph's place…ever."
From his pocket, he pulled out his late parents' medals, their weight both heavy and reassuring.
Then it struck him. This is my inheritance. I should use it wisely.
------
[The City Council of Melrose City]
Damen arrived at the City Council, the heart of Melrose City's government, and stood in line before reaching an administrative desk.
"Boy, you're a bit young to be complaining about garbage collection," the plump woman behind the desk remarked with a chuckle.
It was true. Melrose City's services were notoriously subpar. Most people who visited the council were there to lodge complaints—frequent gripes about things like sporadic garbage collection.
But Damen wasn't there to complain.
Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two medals—glistening awards once given to his parents. The woman's expression shifted when she saw them.
She stood up straight and saluted. "Manager! Come here, please. We've got a Hero's Medal. A hero needs our service."
The city's services for regular citizens were subpar but towards heroes, it was a different matter.
Moments later, a man appeared behind her. Like the woman, he saluted the medals, his gaze lingering on them as he took them into his hands for closer inspection.
"Who might you be?" the manager asked, eyeing Damen with curiosity. "You're far too young to be the recipient of these."
"These medals belonged to my parents, Craig and Roise Black," Damen replied, his voice steady despite the awkwardness of the moment.
The manager's eyes widened.
He quickly pulled open a thick ledger from his desk and flipped through the pages. After Armageddon, important personal records were no longer stored digitally; that information was too vulnerable to hacking, especially by Quantum.
The paper register was all they had on heroes.
"Ah, here it is… Damen Dark," the manager murmured, his finger running along the page.
Damen nodded.
"Why are you here today…? And where's your uncle? He's already collected your allowance for this month," the manager inquired.
Damen shook his head. "I didn't come for an allowance. I'm here to register for my ID."
The manager raised an eyebrow. "You know, everyone in Melrose City must have an ID. It's embedded into the skin, containing all your personal information, so it can't be stolen or hacked. But you're not of age yet."
"I will be next month," Damen said, unflinching. "I'm here to start the process."
"Well, you're turning sixteen soon, so we'll get everything ready for you. But... where's your uncle? He's your legal guardian, right? Shouldn't he be here to sign the process," the manager asked again.
Damen hesitated for a moment, then replied quietly, "He's immobilized and in the hospital. That's why he gave me the medals to bring here…to get my ID."
The manager softened a bit. "I see. Usually, we need your legal guardian to sign the papers but, in your case, perhaps we can make an exception. Alright, we'll start processing your application. Once you turn sixteen, you can come back to get your ID."
Damen nodded, but before he turned to leave, the manager added, "While you're here, feel free to check out the other services we offer."
"Thank you," Damen said simply, his mind already turning to the next step in the long road ahead.
-----
The City Council was a sprawling complex, with numerous annexes extending in all directions. Damen, eager to explore, wandered through its maze of halls.
His curiosity eventually led him to a large sign that read, "Heroes' Gym."
Intrigued, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.
A woman with a well-toned physique, clearly accustomed to the gym's atmosphere, approached him. "How can I help you?"
Damen hesitated for a moment. "Er… I just came to look around. Explore the gym."
She raised an eyebrow, her expression was stern. "Shoo. The gym's for paying customers only."
Damen blinked, taken aback, but pressed on. "Um, is there a chance I could get a free trial?"
The woman's eyes narrowed, and she shook her head firmly. "No freebies here. Even heroes must pay to train."
Damen, feeling the weight of her dismissal, hesitated again. "Well… could I buy a daily pass?" He asked, unsure if such an option even existed.
Before the woman could reply, another figure emerged from behind the counter—a taller woman with sharp features and a confident smile.
"Hello," the newcomer said. "I'm Dorin. I overheard your question. If you'd like a daily pass, it'll cost you a hundred Aurs."
Damen's eyes widened. "A hundred Aurs? For just one day?"
Dorin nodded casually, unfazed by his shock. "Yep. A hundred Aurs. Do you still want the day trial?"
The woman with the muscular build shot him a look of indifference. "If you don't have the money, just turn around and leave."
Damen's heart raced.
A hundred Aurs was a lot for a day pass, especially when he hadn't expected to spend anything. But he wasn't about to give up. Luckily for him he looted a few Aur cards from the gangster Stephan outside his school.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a jade card—an Aur Card—its dark green hue gleaming faintly.
The well-built woman eyed the card with an almost dismissive look before snatching it from his hand. She walked over to the cashier, slamming the card onto the reader. Her fingers quickly punched a number into the system: 100.
For a moment, Damen felt a strange, subtle pull on the card. The once-dark green color of the Aur Card began to glow a lighter shade of green, and a small beep signaled the transaction's completion.
"100 Aur has been drawn from your card," Dorin said, handing the card back to him with a smile. "You now have access to all the gym's facilities for 24 hours. Enjoy."
Damen took the card back, still a little stunned, but his curiosity was piqued. As he walked further into the gym, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of training happened here for such a steep price.
To his surprise he found a huge glass chamber.
Within the chamber was a man dressed in tight spandex. With the wave of his hand, a fireball magically appeared shooting into prepared targets in front of him.
"Damnit, is that superpower?" Damen asked.
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