Chapter Text
A small, hooded figure walked through the dark, dirty streets of a town he didn’t care to learn the name of. Heavy rain was pouring down like a shower of bullets from the heavens above. Yet he was unfazed as the raindrops seemed to be moving away from him and only him.
And the weatherman said it wouldn’t get this bad. Yeah, right! The boy thought to himself. The train station he was heading towards wasn’t far now. Just a couple of more blocks and he’ll be able to kiss this nowhere town good riddan-
SMAAAAAASH!
The sound of glass being broken caught the hooded child’s attention. He turned and saw the large window of a general store shattered beyond recognition. Inside the shop were about three shadowy figures ransacking the place. The hooded boy just shook his head at the sight before him.
“Amatuers. If you’re going to pull something like this, at least do it right” He said to himself. Still though, he had to give a little shred of credit. It takes guts to pull something like this out in the open, night or otherwise. Just then, a mischievous grin formed on his face. He definitely could use some extra cash for his journey, and it would be neat to test out a few tricks he’s been working on!
“C’mon man, we’re running out of time!” One criminal whispered to his associates as he ransacked the store
“I can’t find the safe!” The other whispered back
“It’s not in the back?”
“No! The owner must’ve hidden it somewhere else!”
“Well then find it! We only have a few more minutes before the pigs show up!”
“I told you we should’ve cut the silent alarm” One of the bigger robbers piped up as he kept lookout
“Hey, just keep an eye out for the cops, will ya? Once we find that safe, we’ll be on easy street!”
The other two robbers went back to their previous looting, while the third continued to wait for any sign of law enforcement. “Man, I got to find some better friends to rob with” He muttered. It was then he spotted something that could jeopardize this entire operation.
“Uh, guys?”
“What is it, bud? The cops?” The lead robber went over to see what the lookout spotted, only to see a hooded kid standing right in the middle of the street. “Crap, a witness. Just what we needed!”
“What should we do?”
“Let me think for a sec here…” The leader paused for a moment “Okay, just scare ‘em off. They’ll run to get help, but we’ll be long gone before any shows up” He went back to join his comrade.
The lookout cracks a smirk, turning his attention back to the kid “Hey kid! This doesn’t concern you!” He shouted “Get out of here if you wanna keep your arms!”. This empty threat did not deter the hooded boy, who simply walked towards the newly opened window. The lookout couldn’t believe the stones on this kid.
“Are ya deaf or something? Just walk away, or things are going to get messy, ya hear?!” He shouted again, this time drawing out his crowbar to show that he wasn’t messing around. The boy stopped for a second, looking at the big oaf with an annoyed expression on his face that was obscured by the hood.
“Listen kid, I’m warning you for the last time” The lookout growled “You can either walk away and let me and my friends do our thing, or wind up in the hospital with more broken bones than an untrained stuntman! So, what’s it gonna be?”
“Hmm, those are both very interesting choices” The boy said, his hand to his chin as he falsely pondered his choice. He then snapped his fingers, exaggerating his newfound decision “Oh! I know! How about I do this instead?”
Meanwhile, the other two robbers were in the back office attempting to locate the safe. “Dude, I already said it wasn’t in here”
“Well, I’m double checking anyway! For all you know, the owner must’ve hidden it underneath the floorboards or behind a portrait!”
“This isn’t a movie! Who’d be stupid enough to do that?”
The two’s argument was interrupted by a loud crash from the main area. Dropping their search, the thieves ran out of the back office to find that their cohort was currently slumped over the counter, groaning in egregious pain. As they helped him back onto his feet, the lead robber turned and saw that the hooded kid was now standing in the store.
“You! What’d you do, you little–!” But the robber’s shouting stopped when he saw that multiple items and empty racks were now floating around the kid. “Oh shit, they’re psychic! Get down!” He and the two other robbers quickly got behind a few shelves just as the boy telekinetically threw the random store objects at them. Catching his breath, the leader turned to the others “I’m not being done in by one of these freaks!” He pointed at the bigger thief “You, take his right. And you” He points at the taller one “Throw stuff at him to keep him distracted. I’ll take his left”
“But what about the loot?” Complained the big guy
“Forget about it! The cops are probably on the way!” The leader shot back “We’ll just take what we can get from the register and get outta here!”
The taller thief chimed in “Dude, this kid is psychic! What makes you think we can take him?”
“He’s just some brat! No different than any other brat! We’re bigger and stronger than him, psychic or otherwise!”
“Hey, what are you guys talking about?” Another voice spoke up from above
“Ugh, damn it kid, not now! We’re trying to…” The leader paused, looking up and seeing the boy on top of the shelf the trio were hiding behind, who was looking down on them like a predator eyeing his prey.
“Heya, how’s it going?” The boy innocently asked. Before any of them could react, a PSI punch sent the lankier of the trio into the wall. The big brute attempted to grab the child, but the hooded boy instinctively leapt out of the way and onto the floor, delivering a swift kick to the leader’s stomach, who recoiled from the pain. The boy made quick work of the brute, tumbling and rolling away from any attack while delivering PSI punch after punch.
“OWW! What kind of circus shit is this?!” Shouted the brute as he dodged a TK’d pot, which instead hit the lanky robber in the face, no doubt scarring it from the broken ceramic fragments.
“Agh, My face!”
“Oh shit, sorry man!” The brute, now distracted, was left open. The boy exploited this by delivering a blow to the back of his head, knocking him down. The boy just laughed at the other’s pain.
“Wow, you guys really suck at this! What’s the matter? Can’t take on a ten year old kid?” The boy laughed again “Tell you what, I can let you guys take five before I kick your asses harder!”
Unbeknownst to the hooded pre-teen however, the lead robber got the drop on him while his back was turned. The boy’s vision blurred as a crowbar struck him in the head and was thrown to the other side of the room. The leader cackled as his posse got back on their feet.
“Ha ha ha! Should’ve paid more attention, dumbass! That’s what you get for being a cocky little shit!”. He turned to the other robbers, seeing just how jacked up they were. “Damn though, he really did a number on you two”.
“Oh wow, ya think?” The brute grumbled
“Is my face alright? I don’t wanna look. How bad is it?” The taller one whined. The leader just shrugged his worries off.
“Eh, nothing a few stitches can’t fix you crybaby” He made his way to the groaning child, grabbing his arms and pinning him to the floor “Get the zip ties. He won’t be a bother once we’re gone”
“But he’s psychic! He can just blast us with that weird brain of his!”
“Please! I’m pretty sure that bonk on the head bought us enough time!”
That’s what they think! The boy thought as he struggled in the robber’s grasp. “Get off me, you bastard!”
“You kiss your mother with that mouth, brat?” The leader laughed at the child’s pathetic struggling, yet the boy did not relent.
“I said let me go, or else you’ll be sorry!”
“Oh yeah? And what are you going to do, eh? You’re overpowered and outnumbered! So, why don’t you be a good little brat and take what’s coming to you?”
Anger and hate began to flow through the boy’s body as those words were uttered. Right then, no more Mr. Not-Quite-Nice guy! The boy began to focus his psychic energy hard, concentrating on the rain outside. It started small as a few droplets hit the store’s floor. The boy concentrated harder, the rainwater collecting more and more into a medium sized puddle. It wasn’t long until the trio of thieves saw how wet their shoes were getting, and it finally became apparent that the whole store was beginning to flood!
“What the hell? How’d the rain get this bad?” The brute questioned. Before he knew it, a large hand sprung from the water’s surface and began to choke him out. The other two looked on in shock and horror as the hand smashed the brute against the walls over and over, his bones beyond broken and blood gushing from his mouth.
“Oh my god! What the hell is that thing?!”
The taller robber looked down at the boy, who was smiling with utter joy at seeing the brute being mangled. “It’s HIM! He’s controlling it!”. The tall robber raised his foot to stomp on the boy’s head, only for another watery hand to grab his leg and slam him against the leader. The first hand had now grown bored with the brute and dropped him on the floor with a wet *SPLAT*, his unconscious body bled onto the flooded floor which stained the water a deep crimson. The leader pushed the KO’d body of the tall one off of him. Unfortunately for him, the water hand enveloped his entire head. Panic set in as he slowly began to drown. As for the boy, he got up and slowly steadied himself, making his way to the shelves that hadn’t been knocked over.
“You have fun with him. I’m gonna get some stuff for the train ride”. The boy said to the hand as he began to loot the store for bandages, snacks, and any other miscellaneous items. He clutched his head and winced in pain, taking a pain killer to ease the horrid throbbing inside his skull. As he stuffed his haul into his leather bag, the boy remembered the other reason he disrupted this whole robbery. He opened the cash register and completely emptied it of all its contents, which was an astounding… $20.05.
“Huh, must’ve been a slow day today”. Then the realization hit him, causing him to facepalm at his own stupidity. They obviously put the rest of the cash in the safe! But where could the safe be? If these three bozos couldn’t find it, then it had to be the most well hidden safe that ever existed! At least the cloaked boy thought until he saw a slightly crooked portrait of a piggybank on the wall behind the counter.
The boy scoffed, disbelieving that these robbers were so incompetent that they couldn’t be bothered to check a portrait of all things! Eh, no matter. With a snap of his fingers, the portrait burst into flames and revealed the safe! The boy smirked, TK’ing the door open. He was disappointed when it turned out the contents were only a few stacks of twenty dollar bills amounting up to $160, but hey, money’s money. After claiming his prize, the boy turned his attention back to the leader, who was nearing unconsciousness thanks to his watery captor.
“Okay okay, that’s enough! Remember, the hospital; not the morgue”. The hand begrudgingly relented, releasing the foolish robber from its stranglehold. The leader gasped for air, lying in a pool of rainwater, sweat, and dread. The boy walked up to the robber who was shivering from the cold water. Or maybe it was the fear? It was kinda hard to tell. The leader looked up at the boy, who peered back at him with indifference.
“Wh-Who are y-you?” The words trembled from the leader’s lips. The boy continued to look at the robber, then spoke up.
“Well, not like you’ll remember it, but my name is Razputin” He pulls his hood back, revealing to the lead robber his piercing green eyes, an aviator’s helmet that covered his red hair, and a pair of goggles hanging around his neck “Some call me Raz. But most people know me as… Riptide”. Raz grinned maliciously, ending the conversation by PSI punching the leader in the face, knocking him out cold.
“See you in hell!” He chuckled to himself but the water hand reemerged, making a head shaking motion at Razputin, who flipped it off in turn.
“Oh shut up, it was cool and you know it”
Just then, the sound of police sirens blared loudly as they made their way to the general store. Taking this as his cue, Raz made his way to the emergency exit, only to stop as he spotted an issue of his favorite comic, True Psychic Tales, on a magazine rack. This particular issue had star Psychonaut agents Milla Vodello and Sasha Nein on the cover battling a giant monster plant.
“Ooh, Issue #437!”. Raz picked it up, trying to ignore the small feeling of guilt that came upon seeing his heroes on the cover. The water hand flicked Raz on the back of the head before melting back into the water. “Alright, I’m going, I’m going!”. Raz ran through the emergency exit as the police sirens moved closer. By the time they got to the store, the young psychic was already long gone, vanishing into the night and rain.
The train ride was quiet, which was great for Raz as he focused on his ill-gotten comic. He was glad that he had enough money for a ticket to the farthest place away from that craphole. Though, the events of last night posed some problems for him. There’ll be no doubt that they will be right on his tail once word gets out about what happened at the general store, but he’s been a step ahead for a while now, so he’ll just cross that bridge when he gets to it.
Raz finished reading his comic, stuffing it in his bag and resting his head on the window. Many thoughts buzzed through his mind. Thoughts about where he’s going, what he’ll do next, and how long he can stand the constant running.
Man, if only my family can see me now
Raz shook that last thought out of his head. Nope, nope, absolutely not! You will not think about your family, Razputin! They’re probably all glad you’re gone, especially with how you are now! Just ignore it and it’ll go away!
The sound of a PA system was heard overhead, announcing that the train had arrived in the town Raz hadn’t bothered to learn the name of. Raz grabbed his bag, pulled his hood up, and walked off the train, out of the train station, and into the slightly less dirty streets. As he passed by a pond, the water hand popped up and gave him a motivational thumbs up. Raz smiled and returned the gesture back, then walked off to resume his journey.