In the school a blond was skipping through the hall, her ponytail bouncing without a care. She was in a good mood. In just a few more days, her brother Midas and she would leave behind a decrepit cesspool that was currently home for brighter skies. It was the next to last day of public school. Her face was glowing as she skipped past all those who rejected her friendship, calling her a freak. Crazy. She pushed the exterior door to the school open expecting to embrace her brother, her twin.
As the door cracked open, she saw a dark-haired boy, easily 6'2" throw a punch at her brother's beautiful blue eye. Her smile faded to a scowl; rage quickly consumed her normally adorable demeanor.
She cartwheeled toward them to get closer. When she was close enough for her needs, she sang:
"One bully, two bully, three bully, four
Touch my brother and hit the floor"
As she sang her little ditty, she threw out a vine, wrapping one end around the dark-haired boy's throat while she held the other end and pulled it toward her. By the time she sang the word floor, he was on the ground.
"Balls so tiny, air is missed." She pulled on the vine, strangling the offender. "Sister is now pissed," she growled as she finished the last four words.
"Does the little boy wish to breathe?" She watched as he tried to nod, face a deep crimson.
She glanced at his wrist. His watch proudly displayed a number 3 indicating he was a level 3 ability user.
Minx looked over her shoulder at the 6'0" blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who looked like her. Midas was regaining his feet after the blow, and he nodded at her as he hung his head, eye already changing from red to a shade of purple.
She looked back at the bully, "Brother says to set you free…" She giggled, said the word "whither" and her vine disintegrated into dust. Minx stomped on his family jewels eliciting a howl of pain and fury. The boy rolled over into the fetal position and cried despite all efforts to be strong.
Minx glanced at the number 1 on her brother's watch and skipped to him, her brilliant smile returning. In a world where your ability, your power level was displayed openly on a mechanical device all were required to adorn themselves with, Minx learned to play the game early in life. The higher the number, the stronger they were with their ability, with 8 being the highest. That did not mean the ability was strong, just that the person knew how to use it well.
Those with low numbers wanted to gain strength to increase their number, in part because they didn't want to get bullied, but, more importantly, it meant they could get a better job. If you had no ability in this modern world, it meant you were more worthless than dirt.
Minx had spent the last 11 of their 16 years protecting her brother, her world. Anyone who dared touch him got it worse from her. Her watch currently read 5. Though there were three levels above her, the higher the number, the fewer there were. In her school, even those few would not dare touch her. She didn't play …fair… She smirked, thinking about the way people viewed her.
Abilities among humans didn't have any traceable history. Humans developed abilities in recent years, and even more so during the recent war which had almost annihilated the human species. During the Dalki War, a race of humanoid dragons, the military was getting decimated. Ability users stepped up and turned the tides by teaching their abilities to others, or by having people join their exclusive families.
Those who taught their ability on the premise that the person did not teach another without permission were called "originals". Only members of an original family could learn an original ability. Being an original was considered a big deal in most circles, and they were given special treatment in the hopes of favors.
Others taught their ability to any who desired to learn and ended up having their abilities written into books and sold on the public market, decreasing the power of those families who had the ability originally. These were lauded as heroes by everyone for caring enough about humanity to share.
In this post-war world, those who had the misfortune of not having an ability were viewed as vermin, having no place in society. And were painfully suppressed for it.
Minx looped her arm through the waiting arm of Midas, as she let out a maniacal laugh before facing east. With her brother at her side, they headed toward That Place.
Not for the first time, Minx cursed the teachers for their lack of action. She cursed this society for being so horrid, having lost what was once called human compassion. And worse, she cursed her parents for abandoning her and her twin at the Black Rock Orphanage.
It was a three-mile walk to the orphanage which the twins undertook each day by themselves. There were others their age who lived there but they didn't speak much to them.
Midas started chuckling, "I think you enjoy that too much. I love the rhyming though!"
Minx giggled, "It makes me sounds like a villain in those really old movies. Besides, I do it automatically when I'm uncomfortable so why not add it in under certain situations like that?"
The twins were rumored as troublemakers, even though they were generally good kids. Often, others would pull pranks and blame them so they, the perpetrators, wouldn't get caught. Of course, there were some rules they refused to follow. They decided long ago that if they were going to get punished anyway, they might as well deserve at least some of it. One rule they chose to ignore was No Use of Abilities on the Orphanage Grounds. Since Minx protected her brother, she used her ability any time she felt she needed to.
Midas had a mischievous grin on his face, "are we going to do anything to the orphanage on our way out?"
Minx gasped, "my dearest brother, how could you think of such a thing?" She giggled which turned into chuckling then full-blown laughter.
Midas looked at her with a grin, "what are you thinking?"
Without responding, she took off running. Midas raced after her. Despite the distance, they were not tired when they crashed through the orphanage gate, shattering it into pieces. They stood on the walk just feet from the door, trying to sober up. Laughter was also forbidden. In fact, if it was positive, you could go ahead and remove it from the approved list.
They stood there, trying to force their faces to frown. Soon, other residents arrived, giving them glares or worse as they walked by. One girl did more than walk by.
"Ooooo, I'm going to tell Mrs. Kaniption!" and the child went running in calling the name of the woman in charge of the facility. Minx and Midas looked at each other and realized they needed to get to their room. Quick.
They changed out of their school uniform, setting it aside so they could give it to another resident, though they refused to wash them. They had two each and would be wearing the other one the next day. They also only had two outfits and one pair of shoes. Minx opted for the hot pink tank top and the neon green pants which were still damp from washing them in the morning and laying them out to dry.
Midas had two similar options ripped jeans or ripped jeans. His choice was to show his knees or his thigh on one side and ankle on the other. He chose to show his knees today. His shirt had holes in it. Both were navy blue, almost the same style. The holes seemed to both show but his abs and his ripped chest muscles. He may not have an ability, but his sister almost killed him every day with their routine. Or so he would complain if anyone would hear what he had to say.
Minx watched closely as her brother removed his uniform. While many twins have a special connection, theirs was specific to physical pain. If one got beaten up, the other felts it. Earlier in the day, Midas had been hurt as well. She needed to see if he had any bruises that needed attention.
After Minx was satisfied her brother's body wasn't marred by some miscreant that she needed to hunt down and scar for life, he dressed. They didn't say a word as this was a daily occurrence. They may be siblings, but Minx was very protective of the only family member she had.
As they descended the stairs, they questioned if they wanted to eat. They entered the dining room, and the aroma hit them full-on. Minx wanted to gag. Midas was already chuckling behind his hand praying Mrs. Kaniption wouldn't see his shoulder shaking because they were already in trouble. Soon, the children were all lining up creating a scene in Minx' mind reminding her of another orphanage and a little boy who dared ask for more. She scoffed at the thought. I'm not even going to ask for the initial serving! She thought to herself.
Midas leaned down to her 5'2" frame, "do you want to pretend or just escape for the evening?" he whispered into her ear.