Chapter 3

Inside a barely lit room, A blinding ray of sunlight passed through an uncovered part of a window.

The ray directly struck Pascal's face, which woke him up.

The sunlight caused the lilac-colored pigment in Pascal's eyes to be more apparent as he opened his eyelids.

"Uughh~", Pascal moaned as he set his blanket aside.

He slowly got up and grabbed his phone. There was eighteen minutes left until his alarm rang.

"That's rare. Does this mean something?", He said with a chuckle.

He was never the kind of person that would believe everything has signs. Hence, The chuckle.

He took a few steps forward and felt a popping sensation in his limbs.

It was a strange thing. He's had it for a few days now.

It's been with him starting from when his body started getting riddled with sores and aches.

He thought that it was just a lengthy procession of his quirk and decided that he probably should not tell anyone about it. His reasoning: The element of surprise.

He put on a set of proper clothes and climbed down a flight of stairs to get inside the kitchen.

He wore a long sleeved shirt, A pair of Dark Grey jeans and a thick jacket.

As he entered the kitchen, He was greeted by his Mother and the woman from before, Odette Weiber.

Odette Weiber, She met Pascal three days ago with a card board box in her hands.

Oblivious of the reason why Odette was here, Pascal asked, "Aunt Odette? Why are you here?".

His mother sat on a dining chair, Whilst Odette sat on the edge of the dining table.

"Oh, pat. How are you doing?", She asked as she stood back properly.

"I'm okay. I doubt she is, However.", Said Pascal.

By 'She' He meant his sister. It's been three days since the funeral, and nine days since their father supposedly died.

"Well, That's fine. Your mother told me.", Odette responded.

Choosing to set aside the issue about his sister, He went back and asked why Odette was here.

"I just wanted to visit again. Oh, and I also wanted to give you something from this box I brought.", She responded.

'The box? Now I'm curious, What is she exactly planning to do with it?', He asked in his mind.

He guessed that there was some sort of memento on there, or even a souvenir.

Anyway, Probably just some things from his father.

Odette grabbed a box from under the dining table and placed it on its surface.

A box had a red crest on its lock, and had grey painted all over its exterior.

Pascal immediately knew this wasn't the same box that she was carrying three days ago. It was a plain brown-colored one.

"This isn't the same box you brought three days ago, What's in it?", He asked.

The brown one was apparently placed inside a shed and it had nothing but white cloths. He guessed that it was probably something she hoped to be used in the funeral.

"Your father's equipment. It's all in here.", She responded as she started opening it, Starting with its lock.

The box's contents were revealed and showed that it was ,indeed, his father's equipment.

A pair of beige-colored knuckle gloves, Three sets of belts, A shoulder holster and a pair of flexible iron-tipped boots.

Almost all of them were dyed in shades of red, Including its Coat and slim pair of cargo pants.

"I've seen him take it off and even let me play with them when I was younger, but now that he's...", He said, His tone growing weaker at the end.

His mother, who was silent Until now, Spoke to him and said, "Would you like to put it on?".

Pascal looked at her and nodded slightly.

He grabbed the gloves and put it on.

As Pascal grasped his palm, Its weight doubled.

If Pascal punched something like a wall with it, The wall would collapse with a big hole in its center.

However, If his father were to wield it, Not only would the damage increase, It would also boost its effectiveness in combat because of his father's ability.

A jackhammer is simply an ineffective weapon on its own, but when fixed together with the necessary maneuverability and versatility, It might as well be dangerous as a rocket launcher.

Suddenly, Pascal's eyebrows twitched up and he flashed a grin.

He quickly aimed his fists at the dinner table and swung his arm...

"Whoa!? W-wait!". "Pat, NO!".

...And stopped at a hairbreadth.

"AHAHA~ Inhaling SFX ~AHAHA~!", Pascal laughed.

In Pascal's mind his laugh sounded like those of famous supervillains, but in reality, it sounded like an asthmatic nerd trying to sound like a supervillain.

He looked at the two women in the room, and saw Odette rasing her arms sideways with her feet tightly stuck onto the floor.

His mother was behind Odette.

"Come on, Mom. You've seen me play with them for years.", He said.

"You're a bad joker, Pascal. A really bad one.", His Mother said with a deep sigh and an arm rested on the side of her face.

"Ugh...", Groaned Odette as she fixed her posture.

As Pascal pulled onto the glove and tried to take it off, A blue light flashed and blinked along its side.

Odette noticed it and her body stiffened.

"Pat, Take them off now!", She yelled and reached out to him.

"Wha-".

The glove shrieked with shrill sound and sent a massive shock towards Pascal's arm.

Pascal yelped and his arm shook but recieved no damage.

"Ouch! W-What the heck?!"

"Pat!", Odette yelled.

Odette grabbed his arm and checked it out for injuries.

"That wasn't supposed to happen.", Pascal said.

"No injuries, No fractures...", Said Odette.

"I highly doubt that. My arm feels numb and it feels strange.", Pascal retorted and compared it to an hour of masturbation.

Odette stared at his Mother with a strange expression.

Pascal noticed this and asked.

"Is something wro-"

"Pascal, Would you please come here?", His mother Ordered, Cutting off Pascal.

Pascal was dumbfounded at his Mother's words, but still came to her.

"No No, Is something wrong??", He asked.

He was asking himself and making conjectures about why she cut him off, but came to no answers.

"Just sit there. I just need you to do something for me.", She said, Making a stern face that Pascal could see.

"Mom?", Pascal asked as she saw her mother grab a glass and made chocolate milk.

'What? What the heck are you doing? Who is that for?", He thought in his mind.

She first grabbed a newly-bought bag of powdered chocolate milk, Placed 4 teaspoons of it in the glass, And poured hot water over it.

She placed it in the dining table, Dropped cubes of chocolate in it, and stirred it.

"Here", His Mother said, Pushing the glass towards him.

Confused, Pascal looked at Odette. She wore a forced smile and placed a hand on Pascal's shoulder.

She leaned over and whispered, "Just do it, Pat. I'm sorry but I'll reward you as soon as I can."

Towards this sudden development, Pascal could only look at the glass of chocolate milk and at his Mother. The usual gentle and aloof personality that his mother had was turned into that of a hard trained soldier. I think.

He was not aware that she was hiding such a personality.

She was pushy and had a strict atmosphere.

"Drink it. Now", His Mother ordered once again.

"S-sure", Pascal said as he placed the glass onto his lips and drank its contents.

Being suspicious of it having drugs and such would be a keen approach, but he saw his Mother make it herself in front of him. The only thing suspie here are the cubes of chocolate she placed, but he thought nothing of it.

He emptied the glass and narrowed his eyes at the both of them.

"Do you feel anything bad?", Odette asked as she stepped forward.

"No?", He answered.

Aside from the fact that his body felt sore and numb, and his throat feels as if someone poured a bucket of oily marbles along the exterior of his esophagus, Nothing was wrong.

"What's wrong with you with you two?", Pascal said, Still keeping the narrow eyes.

'The gloves just numbed my arm, It's probably just a security measure that someone forgot to turn off', He thought.

The sight of his mother exerting a wave of intense pressure while serving a glass of chocolate milk was comical, to him atleast.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?", Asked his mother.

"No. There's seriously nothing.", He responded, shaking his head a few times.

His mother sighed again in relief, and sat on a chair.

Pascal looked up with a fed up expression and said, "You two are acting very unusual. I'm just going out, in case it might help with your issue.".

Listless eyed, He walked and exited through their front door.

"Chocolate milk? It doesn't take a genius to know that they're finding a way to access my ability, but chocolate milk?", He said to himself.

There has been multiple occurances of people awakening their abilities through various triggers such as puberty, intense emotions, And specific injuries. Pascal knew it, but what is chocolate milk supposed to do? These thoughts filled his mind.

Since they lived in the large clearing of a forest, There were many trees to gawk at and climb.

Pascal, A person who has lived in such a place for more than a decade, gazed at them like a sheltered child who has been locked down for years.

"Whao!! So many trees, How come I never noticed them?! I could climb all of them and never run out of trees!", He yelled.

For some strange reason, A large influx of endorphins and other hormones came upon Pascal's brain and topppled a significant chunk of his reasoning into those of a child's.

What was once a forest that he subconsciously called dull and uninteresting, He treated as though it was a tiny section of heaven. In other words, It was paradise for his now childish brain.

"The sun is sooo bright!! Why do I always get those annoying cloudy skies! I hate them!", He said as he appreciated the contrast between the shade of a tree and a sunny field.

"Mom! Come look at this scenery it... it's so... Hwat?", He said whilst not noticing the trail of blood coming from his nose.

His stupid smile and childish giggles soon turned into a sour face and upward pointed lip.

He felt it. The sensation of his muscles locking up and his organs preparing themselves for a huge change that was supposed to happen much more earlier.

"M-mom...?", He said in a weak tone.

After a few seconds, A shrill scream of pain resonated across the forest and disturbed every living being in its vicinity.