Infiniteum

Standing at the luggage collection point, I waited anxiously for my luggage to arrive, slowly watching the luggage go round and round on the machine.

"Excuse me." Someone said behind me but it didn't matter anyway, since the person shoved me aside harshly after saying that.

I stumbled to the side, throwing a glare in the person's direction, seeing that it was a man snatching his luggage away from the machine, pushing everyone aside as he muttered the same phrase continuously.

What's the point of even saying it?

I huffed, walking back to the same spot where I was pushed from, my eyes darting around the airport quickly before glancing back to spot my luggage on the machine.

The spacious airport was not as crowded as I expected it to be. The floors were carpeted in dark red, with white-coloured squares, triangles and circles appearing haphazardly on the carpet. All the sliding doors and windows were made of transparent glass, not a hint of any dirty spots on them, and there were a few white doors around the area, closed off from the public. The white walls extended all the way to the roof, which was also painted in white.

The roof was decorated with simple lighting that shone down on the whole airport, bathing the it in a warm light. There were different shops that ranged from souvenirs, clothes, cosmetics and many more.

Come on, come on...

My dark brown eyes lit up in relief when my eyes landed on a bright orange luggage. Dashing forward, I grabbed my luggage and hurriedly walked away, trying my best to ignore the bewildered glances people were giving me; along with some amused ones.

The reason for those looks was probably because of the condition of my luggage. Instead of seeing a neat zipped line, there was a tape around the whole zip and you are wondering why is it taped up instead of zipped up?

It's simply because how amazing I am.

I was visiting my relatives in Singapore, which is the country I was born and lived in till I was thirteen years old, before my parents decided to shift to here.

The most peaceful city in the world, Serenity.

I travelled without my parents this time back to Singapore, since they could not afford any time to visit our family members; due to having a hectic work life in Serenity.

Thus, I expected my amazing skills to show itself and well, it really did.

I was staying in a hotel, due to the lack of rooms in my relative's house and agreed to meet them at this certain timing.

Of course, things didn't go as planned.

In the life of Jean Saunders, things won't ever go according to what I've planned in my mind.

I woke up late, clumsily reaching for my phone and checked the time, realising that I was an hour late to meet them.

Now, my older relatives and grandparents don't appreciate tardiness so I had no other choice than to rush for time.

"Oh crap!" I exclaimed loudly, fumbling around and struggling to get out of bed, only to fall ungracefully onto the floor, since I slipped on the cozy blanket. It didn't end with that either, my hand which was holding onto my phone at the bedside table followed my movement and the phone decided to take a blissful dive, landing on the back of my head.

I groaned softly, proceeding to yelp in pain a few seconds later as I squeezed my eyes close. Sitting up, I blew my black hair out my face, utterly frustrated at the horrible morning I was experiencing. Grabbing my phone, I narrowed my eyes at it, pushing my hair away from my face.

"Is this how you want to treat me, huh? Not sounding the alarm and hitting me at the back of my head, I swear-" I grumbled and unlocked my phone, my irritated look immediately transforming into an impassive look as I let out a miserable sigh.

"Of course." I scoffed, noticing that the time the alarm was set to sound was at 8 PM instead of AM.

"Just great, Jean! Oh boy, I wonder what other adventures are waiting for me out there? Oh the-" I said sarcastically, standing up and walking forward, forgetting that I was still wrapped around the blanket, instantly tripping. I fell forward, flailing my arms, which proved to be futile as I planted a big, fat kiss on the floor.

"...joy..." I winced out, both from pain and annoyance.

***********

Let's just say I arrived there another hour later, staring into the sullen faces of everyone there; mostly the older relatives, my younger relatives were snickering furtively at my suffering.

My straight, black hair that reached near my waist was sticking out in every direction, since I kept running my hand through it.

My eyes were wide with a crazed look, and it seemed scarier than normal as I had slightly bigger eyes than most of my relatives, due to my natural double eyelids.

The light make-up that I wore had slightly worn off, showing my slightly blemished face that were mostly pimple scars from my previous years; I was already twenty-one years old now.

My body aches a little from my sprinting, despite me being slim; I hadn't exercised in a while. Also, since I am naturally short, my legs were short too and my fair-skin turning a little pale due to all the sprinting I did, especially my face.

Summing it all up, I looked even more horrible than what I looked like curled up on my couch, wearing oversized shirts and pants, with a messy bun accompanied by my stuffed cheeks, filled with food, and maybe a little tummy fat just sticking out.

Moreover, when I arrived back at my hotel room, I discovered that there was something else to add on to the dreadful day.

376.

Click.

"...it's not unlocking..." I whispered to myself.

It's okay, Jean, try again.

That's what I did, again and again and again.

...and again...

I smacked myself in the face after that, knowing that I must have sealed my luggage with the wrong number code. Furthermore, the lock didn't have any keyhole, hence, there's no other way I can unlock it other than the correct number code.

"I'm making life harder on myself, aren't I?" I growled out, scouring around for my handbag.

I didn't have much time to buy any luggage neither did I have the time to do trail and error, so, I had to resort to the old-fashioned way.

Using the almighty pen to break the zip open and the almighty tape to seal the opening.

There you have it.

That basically tells you how I live my everyday life.

Yes, I know, it's very exciting.

**************

Ignoring the puzzled stares of everyone, I headed for the entrance of airport, wanting to grab a taxi and hurry home. While walking through the throng, I listened into their conversation, a soft smile on my face. A warmth feeling enveloping me as I realised that I am finally back at my second home, stopping in my tracks to let the feeling sink in.

How I have missed this city...

"Hachabulshki!" Someone said, his voice sounding like a young child.

...what the...heck...?

I held a perplexed look on my face as I slowly glanced around, finding the source of the weird gibberish word.

Did I just-

"AHHHHCHAPAA!!" Another different voice exclaimed behind me, making me jump and I squeaked, spinning around instantly.

I found two young children behind me, pointing an object at each other as they circled around each other, a dangerous glint in their eyes. Their objects resembled something peculiar, as if they were imagining themselves to the mighty warriors and wizards of the medieval times in those fantasy novels or films.

I remember doing that with my cousins when I was younger, I even played the role of a princess by wrapping a blanket around myself, thinking it was a gown and acting regal.

...only that I fell down to the floor a few moments later when I stepped onto another blanket that my cousin was using it to act as a princess too.

It was the only human domino I experienced in my life, not that I would want to ever experience it again.

Ever.

A woman in her forties hastily ran towards my direction, offering me a sheepish expression as she dragged both of them away as they continued spouting gibberish words at one another.

I snickered at them, holding in my laughter, not wanting to attract any attention to myself and I continued strolling to the entrance of the airport. There were a few decorations in the airport, since Christmas was in a month. There was an enormous Christmas tree in the middle of the airport, with intricately designed bells hung onto parts of the tree, along with a bright star placed on the top of the tree, shining proudly; a long string of gold ribbon neatly wrapped around the tree accompanied by the presents that came in various sizes occupying the bottom of the tree.

"Look, mummy! That car!" Another child walked past me, holding onto his parents' hand at each side as he pointed towards something.

"Yes, sweetie?" The mother asked, glancing at the direction her child was pointing to, revealing it to be a car that was parked outside the entrance of the airport, the bottom half of the car was adorned with grass as someone stood behind, unloading the trunk.

"It must have played in the grass, like this!"

The young child stated animatedly, pulling his hand out from his mother's grip and spinning his hands around like a maniac, making some strange sounds with his mouth too.

His mother just gave her child an amused expression while the father guffawed at his child's amusing imagination. Meanwhile, I burst out laughing, my whole body shaking with mirth, the image of the car spinning and jumping around wildly in the grass like an excited toddler stuck in my mind.

Yes.

How I have missed this city...

Feeling a little more positive about the day ahead, I continued my journey towards the airport entrance, the automatic sliding door opening as I neared it.

I felt a breeze blow by, making my hair flutter around and I ignored it, seeing an available taxi as a woman exited it, her hand resting on the door handle as she prepared to close it.

"Tax--behh!" I hollered, only for the wind to go against me as it blew even stronger, my hair going into my opened mouth and I felt an odd texture touching my tongue, the saliva causing my hair to stick onto my tongue.

I spat my hair back out, making a disgusted face as I watched the taxi drive off, my expression transforming into a pout. I glanced up at the clear, blue sky, squinting at the radiant sun and I immediately turned away, blinking rapidly.

It was late in the afternoon and the weather was much cooler here, compared to Singapore. Every single year I went back to visit my relatives, the temperature only increases.

Flipping my hair away in annoyance, I glanced towards the taxi queue at the far end of the entrance, my eyes widening at the lengthy queue and I shook my head.

No way, I'm definitely not taking that.

Digging my phone out from my pocket, I called my mother, hoping she was free, since my father was hardly free. My mother worked as an author while my father worked for some famous business company.

"Jean, are you finally back?" My mother's cheery voice greeted me and I was glad I didn't call at the wrong timing.

Trust me, calling her while she is focused on writing would end in an unpleasant conversation.

"Yes, mum. I need a lift back home, I'm tired." I heaved an exhausted sigh and I knew she was rolling her eyes at my lethargic response.

"Take a taxi then."

"But the queue is way too long!"

"No."

"But mum..."

I heard my mother chuckling at my whining and she eventually agreed to fetch me back.

"Alright, alright. I'll be there in 20, don't hurt yourself and just stay still!" She warned me and I rolled my eyes at her comment.

"Mum, I may be clumsy, but I'm not that clumsy."

"Jean, I'm your mother and I've seen how extraordinary you can be." My mother stated nonchalantly.

"...okay, fine. Love you, mum." I thought of retorting but I knew she was right anyway.

"You too."

Hanging up the call, I walked back to the entrance and stood a few meters away from the door, leaning against the circular stark white pillar, placing my luggage beside me. I unlocked my phone, deciding to browse the internet, until I heard a deafening crash behind me, causing me to yelp in shock.

I spun around, covering my mouth as I darted around discreetly to see if anyone heard my embarrassing yelp. However, the sight in front of me made my hand drop from my mouth as it laid limply at my side, utterly flabbergasted at what I saw.

There was a man standing in the middle of the airport, opening his mouth and speaking to the crowd in an authoritative manner but they only stared at him quizzically, along with me. That was because he was dressed in spandex, his outfit was a mixture of light green and bright orange that covered his whole body, along with a cloth that was light green in colour tied around his eyes, with two holes cut into it that were meant for his eyes to observe his surroundings.

It hugged his body tightly and his body didn't look that impressive either, it wasn't too muscly or skinny.

A man in spandex?

Seriously?

Is there some sort of festival today?

Still in a bewildered state, I tilted my head, trying to understand the situation as I continued inspecting the strange man, looking around the airport, noticing a large broken window.

He's even breaking the window!

The poor window.

Suddenly, his head snapped to my direction and he narrowed his eyes at me while I blinked at him in response. A second later, he dissipated into the air and I widened my eyes, gasping silently.

What the...hell...?

I glanced around, wondering whether I was the only one that saw that. Apparently, I wasn't the only one, everyone who witnessed it were all astonished by the...disappearing man too.

Did I just see that?

"Hm, nice magic trick." I muttered to myself, a look of awe on my face.

That must be his reason for dressing in such a ridiculous outfit.

He must be a magician.

"Well, at least that magic show killed...a minute of my time." I unlocked my phone, noting the time on my phone clock and shrugging.

However, I saw something appearing out of nowhere from the corner of my eyes and I turned my head curiously, letting out a horrified scream. The same magician appeared beside me, wrapping an arm around my neck and his muscular arm tightening around it but not tight enough to restrict my airway.

"Oh my god, hey-" I spoke, my hands on the magician's arm when my words were abruptly cut off by a strange sensation overwhelming my body.

I felt something pulling at a part of my body and half of my body started to stretch, before feeling the rest of my body being pulled together by an unknown force. I proceeded to feel a pressure squeezing me so tightly, it was similar to the time where I tried to fit into the tiny box when I was younger.

I know, I did quite a few strange things when I was young.

The pain was excruciating at first, but then, the next moment I felt completely queasy, my vision being blinded by an endless abyss of darkness. A few agonizing seconds later, I appeared back inside the airport, his hand still wrapped around my neck and I panted heavily, my vision spinning. Gradually recovering, I noticed my luggage remaining at the wall I was at a few seconds ago.

Holy crap.

My mind swirled with thoughts as I tried to comprehend the situation, knowing that I just...teleported.

How is this even possible?

I definitely knew it wasn't me, leading me to the conclusion that the mysterious man was the one responsible for it.

"Are you a magician?" I questioned excitedly, only for my enthusiasm to be interrupted when I heard something click, feeling an object; cold and hard, pressing against the side of my head.

A gun.

Everyone's faces in the crowd showed utter horror as they stepped back, parents hiding their child behind their backs and I glimpsed around nervously, seeing the frightened expression on all of their faces.

Why do they look so scared?

Isn't he supposed to be a magician?

"I'm pretty sure a magician doesn't do magic tricks with a real gun." I mused.

Especially not a magician dressed in spandex.

This guy must really be desperate for attention, or maybe even money.

"Shut up, woman! I'm not a magician and you make fun of my outfit, one more time..." He threatened menacingly.

Oh my god! How did he know that I was making fun of him? Can he read minds?

...wait, did he just threaten me?

He must really be focused on this show, along with the audience.

Wait a minute, he can-

"How stupid can you be?" The man growled out, lifting the gun up into the air and firing it. I squeaked, covering my ears at the resounding gunshot and screams emerged from the crowd, a chill travelling down my spine when I knew that this wasn't some sort of magic trick, especially after seeing the blank bullets on the floor.

Oh, shit.

It's a real gun and he's not doing some tricks with it.

"Give me an airplane! If not I'll simply shoot this woman here, followed by every single one of you!" The man roared at the crowd and I gulped nervously, whimpering softly when he pressed it further to my head. I noticed that there were some brave people trying to sneak to the entrance of the airport and I bit on my lip, praying for both me and their safety.

It's a real hostage situation.

Within seconds, he teleported around them, firing three shots into the air and I watched in fright at him dissipating into the air, only to appear a second later at the other corner. My eyes stared at him in disbelief, expecting myself to wake up from this dream anytime now as I pinched myself.

Ow, okay, Jean.

This is real, Jean, this is goddamned real.

I inhaled in a shaky breath, seeing him teleport to the other corner and firing loudly into the air, ensuring that no hostages escaped from here.

Oh my god.

This is impossible.

It's a hostage situation with a...teleporting man...

I took a shaky step back and unfortunately, a second later, he was back at my side again and now, everyone in the crowd was laying on the ground, trembling in fear while he resumed his previous position. I tensed up as he placed the gun beside my head again, but this time, he decided not to grip me by my neck.

I raised my hands up in surrender, my entire body trembling violently and my mind was completely blank.

"Don't play games with me, I can kill you in a second." The man growled out in a gruff voice and I finally understood the predicament I was in.

You know how I was saying how my lovely city of mine was the most peaceful city in the world?

I might have lied about it.

Just then, I sensed something from above and I directed my eyes to the side, squinting my eyes at the bright sunlight that streamed through the broken window. From far, I could see something in the distance and it eventually grew bigger and bigger, revealing a black figure swinging down from nowhere; through the broken window. He landed gracefully on the floor as I moved my head shakily to his direction, including everyone else and the teleporting man behind me.

Oh christ.

What now?

The figure stood up and it was a man dressed in all black, a hoodie enshrouding his whole body including a black pants, and his face was hidden by a metallic mask that resembled a skull. The mask that he worn only exposed his eyes, by a pair of transparent lenses and I found myself looking into the man's eyes, my breath hitching.

His eyes captivated me, they were both of a different colour, his right was a hazel-coloured; his left was blue-coloured, like the ocean.

What the...heck?

Hazel and ocean blue.

Those were the two colours I can currently register in my mind right now, despite my impending doom by some magician-oh uh, no, let me take that back, a...teleporting maniac.

Jesus, just thinking about the word itself sounds implausible.

The man with the fascinating eyes or the man with heterochromia stared at me a little longer before flicking his eyes up to the man behind me, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Let her go." He spoke, his voice masculine and deep, but it sounded so...fake, like it wasn't his real voice at all.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" The teleporting maniac snapped at him.

"Nobody, just let her go and nobody gets hurt." The man responded and I only gulped nervously, squeezing my eyes close when he pushed the gun further onto my head; still trembling violently.

"Nobody gets hurt?" The teleporting man snorted at his words, his tone mocking.

"Let's be real here, kid. I have a gun pointed at her head and I could kill everyone here easily within seconds." The teleporting man added and I glanced back at the heterochromia man.

Observing the petrified faces of everyone in the vicinity, he turned back and I saw the hesitance in his eyes. "What do you want?" He questioned the teleporting man.

"Simple, I just want an-"

The familiar wailing of sirens pierced through the air and I felt my trembles receding slightly at the reassuring sound.

"...airplane-and you better hurry, kid."

He nodded solemnly and took a few steps back, almost instantly...flying off into the air and out of the window. I silently gasped, my eyes widening at the sight in front of me, letting out a few shocked breaths afterwards.

...holy crap...!

He just...flew, like literally flew off into the air.

Judging from the shocked faces from everyone, I knew they were not comprehending what they were seeing so easily too, oddly, there were a few faces who remained anxious; they must either be immune to this or they were just too frightened for their lives.

No...no, don't think about anything except for your life now.

The sirens got closer and I turned to look at the window, seeing the policemen gathering outside the entrance of the airport. A person dressed in a uniform that was slightly different from the rest of them clutched a megaphone in his hand, raising it up to his mouth and started speaking into it.

"Sir, put down your weapons and-"

I ignored it, knowing what they were going to say but I knew that the lunatic behind me couldn't be bothered. I also noticed the reporters assembling outside the airport, talking straight into the cameras as they gripped the microphones in their hands.

Turning away from the commotion, I realised that the tight hold on the gun against my head had loosened and I heard the teleporting man clicking his tongue, probably vexed from all the events.

Inhaling in deep breaths, I tried to control my trembling or lessen it as I focused on the numbers that I kept counting in my mind.

Breathe in, breath out.

One, two, three, four, five.

Breathe in and out...

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I could feel the gun loosening even more this time, biting on my lip. Just then, the electricity went out, temporarily distracting everyone, including the lunatic behind me as I felt the gun pressed onto my head completely gone.

It's now or never.

I lifted my foot up, which was covered by a high heel and stomped it onto his right foot with all my might. The electricity was probably cut off to serve as a distraction and I internally thanked whoever it was who did it.

His deafening cry was heard across the whole airport and the gun from his hand dropped to the ground, the loud thuds echoing throughout the airport. I could feel everyone holding their breaths and I inhaled in a deep breath, pushing myself forward, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

Run!

...and don't be clumsy now, Jean!

That was the only thought that occurred in my mind as I sprinted off, along with a few people, who were daring enough to run away with me. My eyes were fixed onto the entrance of the airport and I heard the maniac roaring something insulting at me, however, I disregarded it.

"You think you can get away? Huh?" He appeared in front of me a second later, hissing at me as he pointed the gun at my forehead.

"I'll make an example out of you, to whoever who dares to-agh!"

His words were interrupted by someone who flew in via the window and tackled him to the ground, a long piece of rope tailing after him.

It was the same man from just now and my hair fluttered around wildly due to him flying past me. A shaky breath escaped my mouth as I noticed him lifting the man arm with only one arm, floating into the air and zooming straight ahead, slamming him against the pillar.

The teleporter struggled against his grip helplessly and he effortlessly tied the rope around him, trapping him against the pillar. After which, he dug out a blindfold from his pocket, tying it around the teleporter's eyes.

"Took me awhile to get this." He sighed out, tightening the rope and the blindfold once more.

"You little shit! Get these off me!"

"If you can't see, you wouldn't know where to teleport, wouldn't you, Blink?" He said, hovering...a few inches off the ground.

"Damn you!"

"It took me a long time to catch you."

The electricity came back on a few moments later and the policemen marched into the area, apprehending the...teleporter.

The heterochromia man spun around, facing me and started approaching me, while still hovering in the air. Some of the policemen nodded at him when they jogged past him and he awkwardly greeted them back.

"Apeiron, Blink! You are under arrest for trespassing get, physical assault and-" One of the police officers stated and I didn't bother to listen any further.

I blinked rapidly, alternating my stares between his eyes and his feet, which were still up in the air by the way and, he's still coming towards me.

"Are you alright?" He asked me, his voice showing concern when he stopped right in front of me. I heard a massive number of footsteps behind me but I could only focus on him.

"Wh-what? Oh, uh-ye-yeah! Of course! I'm...uh, perfectly fi-fine!" I stuttered out, still recovering from what I've just seen.

"Are you sure?" He inched a little closer and I took a step back, forcing a small smile on my face, trying my best not be mesmerised by his enthralling eyes.

"Yeah! Fi-fine, completely! Okay!" I reassured him, frowning slightly at my broken words after I registered what I've responded.

He nodded at me before taking off, a gust of wind blowing past me and messing up my hair as I observed him in amazement, flying out of the window, his figure growing smaller and smaller.

Almost immediately, I was surrounded by cameras and microphones, being shoved into my face, along with questions being bombarded at me.

"Excuse me, Miss! Can you tell us what exactly happened here?"

"Miss! How did it feel like to be rescued by the new superhero in town?"

"What was it like being held captive?"

"How did the new superhero look like up close?"

I flinched back, squeezing my eyes close as I felt my head spinning at all the questions. I slowly opened my eyes, being blinded by the flashing lights and the reporters shouting questions at my face.

"...a magician who can tele-teleport, and a man who could fl-fly and lift the magician-uh teleporter, magician teleporter, with one arm! One! And he can fly! HE CAN FLY! AND THE FREAKING MAGICIAN WHATEVER HE IS CALLED COULD TELEPORT! It was like those comic book superheros-wait, he is a su-superhero?" I exclaimed at the microphone like a madwoman, sputtering out my words.

"That's all?" One of the reporter raised an eyebrow at me and I let out an incredulous chuckle.

"That's all? THAT'S ALL? JESUS CHRIST, I JUST SAW THE FLYING AND THE TELEPORTING-no, no, you know what? No more, I just can't deal with this right now..."

Feeling utterly frustrated and baffled, I shoved all the reporters away, ignoring them as I marched forward, running a hand through my hair. I eyed my luggage, which was still sitting peacefully outside and I huffed, speeding up my pace.

"Miss, is there anything else you would like to add?"

Letting out an exhausted sigh, I quickened my pace, ignoring their persistent questions.

"Miss!"

"Miss! What-"

"Miss! Are you-"

"Miss!"

They were still trailing behind me, shouting out their questions despite me treating them as if they were invisible. I felt my eyebrows twitching in annoyance as I let out an irritated growl, briskly walking to the entrance now.

"Miss!"

Oh my god, stop please.

"Wait! Miss! You still haven't-"

"Oh, piss off! Go bug-my god!" I said, the words involuntarily flying out of my mouth as I stumbled, my entire body leaning to one side and I quickly balanced myself.

"Great, stupid heels." I grumbled out, recovering from my clumsy moment and headed hastily to my luggage, relieved that the reporters finally decided to give up on asking me.

Go bug my god.

Yeah, nice retort there, Jean.

Holding my luggage in my hands, I brightened up significantly when my eyes landed on a familiar car, slowly coming to a stop right in front of me. I hurriedly jogged towards it, opening the backseat and tossing my luggage inside before joining my mother at the front.

"Jean, sweetie! You look so exhausted, I told you not to move, didn't I? Didn't I tell you how extraordinary you were?" My mother sighed at me, giving me a concerned look.

"Not now, mum, I-" I responded sulkily, only to be cut off.

"And what's with all the police cars and vans? Did something happen here?" My mother asked in a panicked tone, staring at me with wide eyes.

"It's uh, a long story, I'll explain it after this question."

"What question?"

I hesitated, opening my mouth and closing it, letting a resigned sigh out of my mouth. "...what's this new superhero in town thing? What the hell happened when I was gone?"

"Oh, right. I forgot how busy you were that you didn't have time to look at news."

"...yeah, busy in a way but forget it, what exactly happened, mum?"

My mother threw me a suspicious look, knowing I was lying about my excuse about being busy but I didn't want to embarrass myself any further by telling her about my clumsy moments in Singapore.

"I knew you weren't exactly busy."

"Yes, I know, just tell me what happened, mum." I rolled my eyes and she gave me a resigned smile.

"Let's head home first, and I'll explain it to you, you look like you could use a nice, relaxing shower."

Relaxing back into the seat, I shook my head tiredly as my mother prepared to drive off.

"Yeah, I could use a shower right now, and a hug." I muttered out and my mother chuckled, opening her arms slightly to welcome a hug.

I grinned, giving her a tight hug. "I missed you so much, mum."

"Me too, and so did your father."

*************

"Hey there, baby girl." My father stretched his arms open and I settled down my luggage, immediately jumping into his arms and hugging him tightly.

"Dad! I've missed you."

"Me too, baby girl."

I chuckled into his chest, rolling my eyes as I lifted my head up to look at him. "When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"I don't think he will, ever." My mother stepped into the conversation and my father just grinned at her words, releasing me from his hug.

"Why do I even ask?" I smiled, taking my luggage and trudging slowly to my room.

"I'll be in the shower." I said, sounding exhausted.

******************

Hearing some news report on the television, I sighed in a relaxed manner, sauntering into the living room and glanced curiously at it once my eyes landed on the television.

"Yet again, there was another attack by the people we now call Apeirons, and this time, the attack was at the airport. This was the description of one of the civilian there, held hostage by the apeiron."

At that time, I was talking on my phone to my cousin back in Singapore, who was asking me about my trip back home.

"I'm fine, nothing happened."

My cousin started giggling over the phone, doubting that my trip back home was a peaceful one.

"Hey! Don't you dare mock my-"

I was interrupted by the vulgarities spewing out of my younger cousin's mouth as he was right beside my cousin. Judging from the vulgarities he was spewing out in the Hokkien dialect, he must be playing a computer game.

I winced, understanding what the vulgarities actually meant.

"Shut up!" I heard my cousin's shrill voice and I laughed softly, shaking my head.

"You know what? I'll call you back soon, I'm watching the news right now." I said to my cousin, hanging up the phone after exchanging our goodbyes, turning back to the television.

"A magician who can tele-teleport and a man who could fl-fly and lift the magician-uh teleporter, magician teleporter! With one arm! One! And he can fly! HE CAN FLY! AND THE FREAKING MAGICIAN WHATEVER HE IS CALLED COULD TELEPORT! It was like those comic book superheros-wait, he is a su-superhero?"

"This, ladies and gentleman is one of the terrified victims from the incident at the airport earlier today. Who will be the one to stop all this terrible madness?"

Wide-eyed, I glanced towards my parents who were giving me an incredulous stare and I immediately lifted my arms up into the air. "I didn't know what the hell was going on and no, I didn't get held hostage because of my clumsiness, in case you were wondering."

"Jean, we didn't say anything."

"Is this what you wanted to tell me?"

Both of my parents spoke at the same time and I sighed, putting my hands down. "Dad, you were probably thinking that somewhere in your mind, that I always get into trouble easily, especially with my clumsiness, along with you mum-and yes, that was what I wanted to tell you but..."

I directed my eyes towards the television screen before directing it back to my parents. "There's no need to now, but can I just ask, what is really going on here in this city?"

"...well, after you left, a week later, all these strange sightings and mysterious attacks kept happening, what the witnesses would describe sounded unbelievable to the public so there was hardly any news coverage on it. Until multiple anonymous sources started sending in videos of these...humans who were capable of doing things that were beyond understanding." My mother explained and I listened, absorbing all her words in as I nodded to her words.

"The media started calling those people apeirons after that." My father added and my mother hummed in agreement.

"So what? They are like basically superhumans?"

"You can look at it that way." My mother shrugged and I collapsed back into the dining table chair, grasping hold of the new information.

Huh, that would explain the teleporting man and the flying man too.

"...how did all this happen? I mean, why is it happening now? What is the cause of all this...craziness?"

"Do you remember the incident last year, sweetie?" My mother questioned and I frowned at her.

"Of course, how could I forget about it? It completely changed our city from the most peaceful city in the world, to the most chaotic one."

Okay, what I stated before was true, about my city being the most peaceful city in the world, until the whole incident happened and changed the lives of everyone living in this city.

"The people affected by it are probably the ones who we call apeirons now."

I scoffed before letting out a long sigh. "It was a year ago, huh..."

One year ago, May 2016.

"I can't believe they are really planning to do it." I said to my parents as the three of us gathered at a top of a hill to observe the city from afar. The night view of the city was astounding, but it didn't appease the unease I felt within me.

"Relax, sweetie, they know what they are doing, they are all experts."

"Yeah, mum, I don't think so."

"Well, then let's wait to see if it really works or not." My dad tried to quell my anxiousness but it didn't work at all.

"Seriously? They are going to test out a cube that they found through an underwater expedition-I know, there were scientists, marine biologists and whatever experts they had out there in this expedition, but I don't believe that the cube is only used as a source of power."

"Sometimes we have to take risks." My father gave me a resigned smile, ruffling my hair and I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest as I leaned onto the railing, my eyes focused on the city.

There were protestors out there against the testing of the cube in our city, or anywhere else. However, despite their efforts, they were all simply ignored since they were a minority. Testing out the cube, which they believed provides unlimited power after a year of research, on the most peaceful city in the world?

That's asking for trouble.

"Yeah, but what about the consequences?" I questioned, taking a few steps back from the railing, my arms dropping from my chest.

Of course, I tripped again, due to not seeing the slight crack in the pavement, making me temporarily lose my balance. A pair of arms stabilized me and a sheepish smile appeared on my face, turning my head to the side.

"Thanks, dad."

Both of them chuckled at my usual clumsiness which never surprised them anymore. There was never a day that goes by without me tripping over something.

"Oh, it's starting." My mother interrupted the cheery atmosphere with a dreadful statement.

I bit on my lip, my eyes focused entirely on my beautiful city that was swallowed up by darkness by now. A few seconds later, the whole city lighted up, my nervousness gradually disappearing as I gazed in awe, my jaw gaping open at my beautiful city, the skyscrapers reaching up into the sky as the lights hastily ascended the building.

"Whoa." I whispered out, my eyes widening.

It actually worked, what a relief.

"I think we should head back now." My mother commented and we nodded in agreement, heading back to the car and my father slowly drove down the hill. My face was sticking close to the window, staring at the gorgeous view, the amazement on my face hardly disappearing.

Just then, I noticed something strange as lights started to disappear, one by one. It grew more rapid, and the entire city was gradually drowned in darkness. A horrified gasp escaped from my mouth, my amazed expression twisting into one of concern; feeling apprehensive at the black out.

"Erm, mum, dad? The city-"

"Alright, we need to head back, now. Something must have went wrong with the test." My mother cut off my words, looking at my father and he started to accelerate.

This was the premonition that I felt.

The ride down the hill and to the city was a distressing one, mostly because the only source of lights that we had was from the headlights and the city was completely dark. Once my father finally parked the car, with much difficulty, we exited the car and headed nearer to the city, using our phones as torchlights. The car was parked quite a distance away, since my father could hardly see and we decided it was safer for everyone if the car was parked further out.

Upon reaching the street, the power came back on, the lights once again brightening the entire area and I closed my eyes in relief, only to tense up when I heard loud shouting and screams surrounding me. It was starting to get more chaotic and when I opened my eyes, I looked at the ground, screaming in horror.

"Oh my god!" My mother gasped in shock, scrambling forward and kneeling down on the road beside an unconscious person.

"Jean! Call the ambulance!" My father ordered, scuttling away too and I nodded, hurriedly unlocking my phone and dialing the emergency number.

Right in front of me, were numerous amount of unconscious civilians everywhere on the ground. The unconscious civilians stretched up ahead and they were just everywhere, I knew it wasn't just this amount of the city being affected by the blackout.

It was almost half of it or maybe even more than that.

The consequences were nothing like we expected.

I hastily told the caller the address of the street I was in, my eyes still staring at the massive amount of unconscious civilians on the pavement and roads.

*******************

After the mayhem, the hospitals were flooded with patients from the incident, almost every one of them ending up in a coma. The others were the less fortunate ones, who passed away from the blackout and the families of those unfortunate ones could only mourn. The scientists behind this madness apologised for their actions, doing whatever they could to repay their debt.

The media started calling this incident and the object responsible for this, 'Infiniteum', due to the sheer amount of tragedies occuring and this lead to the downfall of the reputation of our city. The scientists were condemned for their irresponsibility and the testing zone was sealed off from the public, the mayor announcing it as one of the most hazardous area in the world.

The most peaceful city in the world was now deemed the most chaotic in the world.

There were numerous news reports of the victims awaking from their comatose state and that was the last report I read about before I left for Singapore for two weeks.

Whereas, along with visiting my relatives in Singapore, I couldn't find a proper time to settle down and read up the events happening in my city.

*********************

Running my hand through my hair, another sigh escaped my mouth as I recalled the tragic incident. "The scientists probably didn't expect this kind of result, didn't they? What do the media call them? Apeirons?"

"It means infinite, in Greek." My mother offered me a poignant smile.

"Dozens of people dying from the incident and hundreds more of these 'apeirons' out there." I shook my head, inhaling a deep breath and I stood up from the chair, deciding to change the depressing topic.

"I'm tired, goodnight, mum, dad." I smiled tiredly at them, pecking them on their cheeks as I hugged them.

"Goodnight." The both of them said and I trudged to my bedroom, my eyes starting to feel heavy, my exhaustion catching up to me.

I should feel grateful for not being any one of them, I can't imagine myself having...superpowers.

"I'll probably destroy the whole world by accident." I muttered to myself, chuckling as I turned my doorknob, opening my room door.

My room wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either, it had small, black tempered glass table occupying the right corner of the room. My favourite novels and magazines were arranged neatly on the small book stand placed at the end, followed by my laptop which was resting peacefully at the middle.

My walls were just painted in white, since I couldn't be bothered to decorate my room, especially when I had posters from my early teenage years pasted on my walls. I couldn't bear to take them down as they ranged from my favourite celebrities, animated characters and comic book characters.

"Wait a minute, I just insulted myself." I frowned, closing the room door and shrugged my shoulders a few seconds later, tumbling onto my comfortable bed, sighing blissfully as I wrapped my light-blue coloured blanket around me, snuggling into my light-blue coloured pillow cover.

God, it feels good to be at home.

*******************

An incessant ringing noise jolted me awake from my deep slumber, making me groan and reach for the source of the ringing noise. Grabbing onto my mobile phone beside my pillow, I didn't care to look at the caller, answering my phone.

"Hello?" I muttered out sleepily, squeezing my eyes close when I faced my window, the glaring sunlight streaming into my room.

"Welcome back! How was your trip?" A cheery, feminine voice greeted me and I slowly opened my eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the brightness.

"I-" I croaked out, realising how dry my throat was and I glanced to my electronic clock on my wall, swallowing my saliva to ease the dryness in my throat.

"Oh wait wait, don't tell me, let me guess it!" My close friend, Jessie Talbott, said excitedly and I blinked sleepily.

"For god's sake, Jessie, I just woke up and it's nine in the morning."

"Nine in the morning is considered late, you know."

"For you, yes but not for me, especially after what happened yesterday, I think I deserve to sleep in more for today." I huffed indignantly, sitting up and plodding to my bathroom.

Jessie laughed heartily, making me grimace as I pulled the phone away from me ear, kicking the bathroom door close and placing my phone at one side, pressing on the speaker icon.

"You looked like a mad woman, like seriously."

"Great, I'm going to attend the graduation ceremony in a month and everyone is probably going to remember me appearing on the news like that."

Jessie giggled, hanging up the phone, saying to call her back once I'm done preparing myself for the day.

*******************

My father wasn't home anymore, by the time I headed to the living room which was expected, he was dedicated to his work after all but he still makes time for us.

"Hey, mum. I'm going out for awhile, I'll be back for dinner." I popped my head into my mother's 'office' and she just hummed in response, muttering for me to stay safe as she continued typing into her keyboard.

I hurried back to my room once more, grabbing my sling bag and phone, checking my appearance in the mirror once more. Dressed in a white and yellow striped long-sleeved shirt, that exposed my shoulders, along with black pants, I was glad that the weather here wasn't too hot or cold. Nodding to myself, I exited the house and dialed Jessie again, not surprised when she almost immediately answered the phone.

I walked down the small stairs leading to my house door and turned around, looking at my house once more. The windows to my house were open and the walls were painted in cream, the roofs were painted in peach colour. My house wasn't particularly luxurious or enormous but I didn't care about that, the house gave off a homey atmosphere, which was what I searched for in a house.

Putting on my sunglasses, I heard Jessie's cheery voice once again and I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.

"So, how was your trip?"

"Ugh."

"By your 'ugh', I guess it means extremely great?"

"Well, let's see..." I trailed off, starting to explain all the events that happened.

***********************

Boarding the train, I leaned against the glass panel as everyone in the train were either dozing off, watching their phone with rapt attention and listening to their music; gazing into empty space.

"So, how was it? Meeting him?"

"Who?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows as I removed my sunglasses, folding it.

"Well, you know! Him! The new superhero in town!" Jessie exclaimed excitedly and I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"Almost for the two weeks that I was gone, the city suddenly has a-ahhh! Great..." I said, only to be interrupted when the sunglasses slipped out from my fingers and dropped noisily onto the ground.

"Yes, the city has a ahhh! Great..." Jessie repeated my words, amusement evident in her voice as I bend down to grab my sunglasses, which thankfully didn't slide too far from me.

"As I was saying, the city suddenly has a heropekaowww!" I corrected my statement again, only for a gibberish word to spill out when I stood up too quickly and at the same time, the train decided to jerk, causing my head to bump onto the glass panel.

"The city suddenly has a heropekaow? I swear, Jean, if there was ever a gibberish language class, you'll ace it."

"Oh, shut up Jessie! That freaking hurts!" I winced, rubbing at my head and ignoring the stares some people in the train were giving me.

"Let's see, the city suddenly has a ahhh! Great...herope-"

"You get my point!" I growled out in annoyance, causing Jessie to guffaw over the phone.

"Alright, alright, I get it, sorry, couldn't help it. But really, how was it like meeting him? Was he like a prince? Like a bad boy? Was he hot?"

"Well, Jessie, he had a mask on and he was wearing a hoodie to cover up himself and having a gun pointed to your head didn't exactly allow me to judge how hot, how bad or how princey he was."

"Oh crap, my bad, Jean."

"It's fine, he even had his voice disguised."

"I'm so jealous of you, getting to meet him." Jessie sighed wistfully and I could only groan in response.

"Jessie, he's just a normal guy, that has powers--and saves people occasionally."

"Yeah! A normal guy that has powers and saves people everytime! Do you know how many crimes he managed to prevent? Especially when almost all the apeirons are the ones causing the crimes!"

"Woah, woah. Hold up a minute, are you saying we have supervillains too?"

"Yeah! Can you imagine? A superhero against all these supervillains, he's just so-"

"So it's only him against all of them?" I interrupted Jessie and I could imagine her pouting over the phone.

"Yep, isn't he just so cool?" Jessie sighed wistfully again and I could only shake my head at her swooning over the city's superhero.

I know it's cool and all to stand up against all the supervillains alone but the current state that our city is in...

"Calling our city Serenity is just so ironic right now." I spoke, ignoring Jessie's swooning.

And is he really fighting all of them alone? I mean, he's a superhuman but they are superhuman too.

"You are damn right." A new masculine voice intruded into my conversation and I glanced up, the source coming from in front of me. Blinking in confusion, I noticed a blonde-haired, lanky man standing up from one of the seats dressed in leather jacket and black pants, his lips curving into a sinister smirk.

"Erm...Jean? Who the heck is that?" I heard Jessie's voice, sounding suspicious.

"I have no idea."

Oh no.

I've got a bad feeling about this.

I gripped tighter onto my phone, Jessie's voice going deaf on my ears as I took a cautious step back, my back pressing against the glass panel, a sense of trepidation overwhelming me. Some of the passengers on the train must have felt the same too, from my peripheral vision, I could see some of them slowly standing up from their seats and warily stepping away from him while others just regarded him as a mad man.

He lifted his hand up into the air and crouched down, resting his palms on the train floor. I could feel something changing in the atmosphere, as if the temperature decreased drastically, goosebumps appearing on my arms. There were small white ice crystals surrounding the man and I let out a shocked breath, stepping away from the glass panel. Another shaky breath came out from my mouth when I noticed that my breaths were able to be seen.

Oh my god.

Another one of them, an apeiron.

"Jean? What's going on?"

"I have to go." I mumbled into my phone, immediately hanging up on Jessie and shoving my phone into my pocket.

"Let's see how your superhero is able to stop this." He smirked wider, pressing even harder onto the ground and the small white ice crystals that were circling around him serenely before they disappeared. I spotted the small white ice crystals spiraling around the ground this time, eventually surrounding a huge part of the train floor, the serene ice crystals turning into a layer of ice, rapidly freezing the whole floor in seconds.

"Say hi to him, will ya? From Frost." The man winked at all of us, moving his hand to the window beside him and jumping out from it, the window breaking, giving me a mock salute as he disappeared from my line of sight.

An ear-splitting screeching noise broke the pregnant silence and the train started tilting sideways. The next thing I knew, I was floating for a second as thunderous footsteps was heard throughout the train, followed by high-pitched shrieks and incoherent shouting.

I felt myself falling down soon after.