In a seemingly rundown room that was tidied up as much as humanly possible, in sharp contrast with the decaying floorboards, sat a man staring at his computer screen in the dimly lit room. He scratched his rapidly thinning hair in frustration. " Damn it, seems like its noodles again this week" He got up from the chair and stretched. This was Damian, a 24 year old unemployed man living on government welfare and charity from relatives. He was a stage 4 gambler, hooked on gambling, and on the computer screen was the cause, Super Bet. This was a site where people could place bets when Heroes and villains were fighting. Yes, this was a world with superpowers, however, only a meagre 20% had them, and Damian was part of the 80% without powers. 'Hmm, my noodle stock has run out better grab some at the mart' He thought.He hurriedly wore a hoodie on faded jeans, grabbed his wallet and headed out. It was late evening, and people were milling about for their nocturnal activities. Damian lived in a relatively busy part of town, meaning the mart wasn't too far from his abode. He walked on the sidewalk, with headphones blocking out the noise of the bustling city as people milled about. The bright lights shone on him from time to time, as he raised his hand to block the annoyingly blinding lights. He finally reached the mart, he was veteran a noodle buyer, so he went straight to noodle counter, he didn't want to spend more time than necessary outside. He usually goes out to either buy groceries, or go to the welfare office. He picked up a carton of noodles and went to counter to pay. He saw the cashier who he was familiar with. The cashier smiled and started chatting as Damian passed him the carton for scanning.The cashier scanned it while trying to make small talk, Damian just politely kept nodding and letting out low grunts to make it seem like he was paying attention. He wondered how some people could keep droning on and on without seeming to get tired. He eventually managed to pay and get his noodles. He stepped out of the store, noodles securely under his arm, headphones back on. Just as he took a few steps forward, he felt an immense shock coming from from his back, followed by a brief but intense pain, and then.....nothing he blacked out. Damian opened his eyes, what greeted it was a white ceiling. Damian was confused for a while, and then, he remembered, the impact, the intense pain and then nothing. "What happened?" He muttered. A chilling voice rang out, "A villain fell right on your back, obliterating your spinal cord, seriously boy how unlucky are you" Damian visibily tensed on hearing that devilish voice. Damian could not, and would ever forget this bastard. "You don't seem too pleased to see me kid, honestly, I would rather not be bothered by you, but what can I say, duty calls" Damian clenched his fist while trying to fight down the murderous urges that overwhelmed him. "What are you doing here?" Damian asked, in the calmest voice he could muster in such a situation. "Well seeing that your injury was caused by a Villain, in line with the HA policy you get sub---" "What injury?" "Huh?" "What happened?" The man shrugged and replied, "Deathstorm was fighting a villain, who unfortunately found himself embedded in your spinal cord, shattering it and destroying the lower part of your body, effectively crippling you, anyway on to business so I can take my leave" Damian felt his heart sink upon hearing what was effectively a death sentence."What about the Hero?" The man's expression changed upon hearing that. He sighed wearily. "I am not doing this again kid" Damian grinded his teeth in frustration. "So you just let him go huh? Typical 'HA'" The man held the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "We have been through this kid, you get compensation and stop yapping and everyone is happy" Damian finally managed to turn his head and face his visitor. Augustine Milton, he sported blonde hair with blue, a jagged scar ran diagonally on his face, he wore a smart suit while exhuding an aura of irrepressible confidence. However, seeing him sitting coolly finally made Damian snap. "So I should just shut up and collect the money while that fucking Hero walks around with no consequence?!! I should just wheel about, while hoping and praying that what happened to my parents doesn't happen to me?!!" Damian screamed out in pure rage as tears found their down his cheeks.While Damian might seem like a gambler with no future in sight, he wasn't always like this. He was once a sunny young man with his future ahead of him, but it all came crashing down. He was at work one day, when he received a call, informing him his mom was at the hospital. He immediately asked for permission from his boss and rushed to the hospital, while praying to Jesus, Buddha, any deity really for their mercy on his mom, however, either they didn't hear, or simply didn't care. On reaching the hospital, all he met was her cold corpse which looked like it had been hit with a battering ram. That was where he met Augustine, he was a resident Hero of the association on grade 2. As Damian eventually learned, Augustine was the cause of his mother's death. When Augustine was fighting a villain, Damian's mom was unfortunately involved, leading to her untimely death. Damian was grieve struck and asked why Augustine was still free, Augustine simply replied in an unremorseful tone. "Because I'm a hero" Back To Present--- Damian was looking at ceiling in a daze, Augustine had since left, claiming to give him time to deal with the news, but not without leaving a threat behind. "Don't even think about making a fuss, though I doubt a cripple like you can make any waves, stay silent or risk a villain attacking the hospital and 'accidentally' killing you" It was a blatant threat but Damian couldn't do anything about it, however, he wasn't staring at the ceiling while thinking on what happened, no, he was staring because something incomprehensible had happened. Right in front of him was a futuristic looking holographic screen. He believed that there was currently no technology in the world capable of doing this. He tried tapping it but his hand went right through it, there was only one sentence on the screen.

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