Ethan was bored today and thought that it had been some time since he last hung out with John.
Ethan was lying on the couch, scrolling on social media; most of his feed was either about him or just plain brainrot.
Only problem? The theory of Minami and him being teen-parents is still circulating all over the internet.
He opened his chat with John and sent a couple of texts asking if he wanted to hang out.
John: "Can't rn, I'm at the gym."
Ethan: "Which one?"
John: "IHO, training floor, normal ones are too light now."
Ethan yawned and got up, and with a snap of a finger, time slowed down; his perception slowed and sped up on command, and it wasn't something that would turn itself on.
Ethan just walked out of his house and onto the street, where people were frozen in place. He decided to prank someone and have them step on an ice cream that he "bought"(he took the scoop from the vendor and put money in place).
He struted for a few…Minutes? Time? Never mind, his clothes began burning anyway, so he sped time to normal and turned on his suit; it wrapped around him like a symbiote, but it wasn't one; it was nanotech.
People looked at him, some whispered and muttered, while others took photos and videos.
When he arrived, he saw a large group of people yelling; they were blocking the way into the IHO.
???: "POWERS ARE FREAKS!! POWERS ARE FREAKS!! POWERS ARE FREAKS!!"
Ethan: "Protests? Bruh."
Ethan walked towards the protest, just wanting to enter. They stared at him, watching as he came closer to them; their chants got louder and louder.
They were hoping he would leave, but when Ethan was close enough, they moved aside and made a path for Ethan to walk. They all looked at him with disgust, like he was a criminal who harassed a lot of people.
When he reached the door, someone tackled him, but Ethan was like a tree that was a hundred years old, too sturdy to fall.
He just lifted his eyebrow at that person and watched as they tried to make Ethan fall.
Ethan: "You done, bro?"
Protestor: "No… You WILL fall!"
Ethan put his palm on the protester's forehead and pushed him away like removing a bandage from a wound; they even dug their nails into Ethan's suit, but Ethan pushed them off easily.
Inside was empty, and the receptionist gave Ethan a nod of respect. How did John get past that raging horde?
Ethan went up the stairs to the training grounds, which were yet again empty.
Standing right beside the weight stacks was John. Ethan walked up to him and put his hand on John's shoulder.
Ethan: "Dude, how'd you get in??"
John turned to Ethan, his face was confused.
John: "The door, how else would I get in other than that?"
Ethan: "There is a protest downstairs."
John: "What? Why??"
Ethan: "Something about hating powered people."
Ethan sighed and sat on a bench. John chuckled and took a dumbbell off the rack; it was 30 kilos.
John: "But why though?"
Ethan: "Two reasons, I guess, 1-Jealous that they are the only ones that are still weak, 2-Probably a result of those who are reckless in heroing."
Ethan shrugged, lifting a 50-kilo dumbbell, and inspected it; it felt like a feather.
John: "How did you get this strong anyway?"
Ethan just shrugged and put the dumbbell back in its place, and John did so too.
John: "What do we do?"
Ethan: "duel?"
John nodded. He knew he would lose just as he would try, but he wanted to, nonetheless.
They walked to the duel arena. The chart-like room was huge, but it was enough for a fight.
John immediately threw a fireball, Ethan just moved aside, using a yellow hand-like tentacle to catch it, and threw it back at John, who was unfazed by the fireball.
John: "You really thought that someone with fire powers would get hurt by fire?"
Ethan: "No, but it would distract you from the fact that I am just an afterimage!"
John: "What?"
Ethan disappeared and reappeared behind John. John could hear shifting behind him, so he turned around and saw Ethan get down to his knees and kick him in the legs, causing him to trip and fall.
Ethan got up and held his hand towards John, his face had an amused smile.
John took Ethan's hand and got up Ethan began walking away, and John went behind him.
Ethan: "So… What's your rank?"
John: "Oh, I think it was B-rank number 12."
Ethan nodded, but he was genuinely curious about how he got in.
Ethan: "Seriously, though, how DID you get in?"
John: "When I came here, there was no protest."
Ethan: "When exactly did you come here?"
John: "5 AM"
Ethan: "5 what?? That's very early."
Ethan sighed, he didn't expect that his friend would be a workout jocky, they walked down the stairs and back to the lobby, where a large group of people blocked the door and window.
Ethan created a barrier at the door and made it expand. The barrier pushed the protesters away and made a clear path.
John looked around frantically about how both of them were walking inside a crowd of rabid protesters who were attacking the barrier like they were caged.
Ethan: "Get ready to fly, dude!"
John nodded. Ethan was ready to run since he hadn't taken off his suit. Suddenly, the barrier disappeared, and the protesters fell over each other.
But they got up quickly and ran at Ethan and John. Ethan did his signature "run on air using barriers move", and John took his time to contemplate what was going on before flying using the fire that came out of his hands.
They ended up sitting in a cafe and just chatting it out, talking about the latest Hollywood flop: "Metal Brain".
And also talking about anime and video games.