Chapter 3: First Contact
My powers manifested faster than I expected.
It started at a coffee shop.
I was wiping down my table when a surge of raw panic slammed into me like a wave. My head snapped up. A woman across the room was breathing rapidly, eyes wide, hands shaking uncontrollably.
My chest tightened—my body reacting to her distress.
Empathic Resonance: Triggered.
Instinctively, I walked toward her.
"Hey," I said softly. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head. "I—I think I'm having a panic attack—"
Before she finished, a warm sensation flickered beneath my skin. My presence seemed to radiate calm like a soft pulse, drifting toward her.
Her breathing slowed. Color returned to her face. She stared at me, confused.
"I… feel better. How did you—?"
I forced a shrug. "Just good timing, I guess."
But inside, I was trembling. I had influenced someone's emotional state.
If I could calm distress… could I also amplify other emotions?
The thought lingered.
But the bigger moment came three days later.
I was heading home when a loud explosion tore through the street. People screamed, scattering as fire blossomed from a nearby alley.
"Not again," someone yelled. Villiain attack
crap every week!"
I instinctively ran toward the blast—because apparently reincarnation didn't fix my impulse-control issues.
When I reached the alley, smoke choked the air. A man in a bulky, armored suit stood in the center, glowing tubes pulsing along his arms. He fired a concussive blast that launched a car into the wall.
"Okay," I whispered. "That's new. And scary."
The villain spotted me.
"You!" His voice boomed metallically. "Leave!"
That emotional wave hit me like a punch—rage, frustration, desperation.
It fueled something deep inside me.
For the first time, I consciously grabbed hold of the emotional field around me.
I pushed.
A shockwave burst from my palms, invisible but powerful enough to send the villain flying backwards into a buiding
His arm was bleeding couse of the impact
He stared at me. "What—what was that?"
"Good question," I muttered.
Before he recovered, a red-and-gold blur streaked overhead.
Iron Man.
"Move, kid!" Tony Stark shouted.
A repulsor beam slammed into the villain, knocking him out cold.
Tony landed beside me, helmet retracting.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I… think so."
His eyes narrowed. "You're a mutant
Panic flickered through me—but Tony raised a hand.
"Relax. Not judging. Just stating the obvious." He glanced at the unconscious villain. "That blast that sent him flying—was that you?"
I hesitated.
"Yes."
A beat.
Then Tony grinned. "Interesting." He tapped his wrist, pulling up a holo-scan. "You should come by the Tower sometime. People with powers need guidance. And maybe a job that doesn't involve running toward explosions alone."
I shall think about it.