The World of Talents should remind you of many other fantasy worlds with superheroes, magic, and cosmic powers, except with a Krosis twist...
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*** Trigger warning: School shooting. ***
Veronica heard the shots as she was walking back from the washroom to English class. The brown-haired senior student had heard such sounds on TV shows, but in real life the sheer intensity of them shocked her. They echoed through the halls, making her cover her ears. She still heard the screams, though. She realized that this was a shooting!
As a Canadian exchange student in America, this was completely outside of her experience, and she didn't know what to do. She heard someone running down a side hall up ahead, coming closer, and then saw another student thrown forward, out of that hall, as another couple of shots rang out. The male student went down, face first, his limp and bloodied body skidding to a halt against the far wall.
She froze. That person had been murdered right in front of her! She could hear the stomp of heavy footfalls coming closer from down that hall, and yet she just stood there, like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car, shaking.
Someone grabbed her hand. She squeaked and turned, but it was Nick, from her billet family, the Lovewrights, pulling her toward a side door. The slim, dark-haired young man was surprisingly strong, and she offered no resistance as he pulled her into a stationery closet and silently closed the door behind them.
Too late, though, it seemed. They heard the purposeful heavy steps approaching their door. Pass by, pass by, she mentally urged the assailant, but then the footsteps stopped outside the closet.
"Get behind me," Nick whispered as he faced the door and pushed her behind him. She instinctively wrapped her arms around him from behind, holding on for dear life.
As the door handle turned, Veronica felt an energy rush into her, followed by a sudden draining sensation. She gasped.
Then the door opened, and she could see a tall man there, clad in a long, dark trench coat and holding a large handgun. She could see his grim smile as he saw them hiding there, and then he raised his gun...
"NO!" Nick held his hands up and pointed them at the man, who seemed startled. Veronica felt the strange siphoning sensation intensify, and then it was as if some vital part of her was being drained away. The man grunted, and seemed to struggle to hold his gun up. The look on his face changed from a smile to...a silly grin?
"Urghhh!" Nick's body was shaking with the exertion of...whatever he was doing.
The shooter's eyes rolled up into his head and he gurgled, "Ungh! Uhhuhh! Hoohhh..." He started thrusting his hips at them as he stood there, almost vibrating.
Then there was a flash of movement and their assailant was gone. Nick dropped his arms and collapsed to the floor. Veronica, her arms still around him, did her best to let him down gently.
Whoosh! There was suddenly someone standing in the open doorway again, and Veronica screamed, thinking the shooter was back.
"Whoa! Hey, it's okay...he won't harm anyone else."
Veronica focused her eyes on the trim figure before her. He was another adult, wearing a full-face mask and a yellow and black form-fitting suit with a stylized J on the front.
"Jiff!" Nick struggled to get to his feet. "Thanks for saving us."
"Nick! So this is where you go to school?" The hero helped both students to their feet. "And by the mess that guy made of his pants, it looks like you inherited your Dad's talent, huh? Look at you, saving the girl." He gave Veronica a wink, and she self-consciously let go of Nick.
"Shh!" Nick stepped unsteadily out of the closet and glanced each way down the hallway.
The Jiff stepped close and kept his voice low. "Nobody close, Nick...does your Dad know?"
Nick shook his head. "Just started...nothing like an emergency to get the juices flowing, I guess."
"Guess so." The Jiff turned as he saw people starting to come into the hallway. Standing tall, he raised his voice, "Emergency's over, folks! The shooter's locked up at the police station, but if you need me again..." He struck a pose. "...'I'll be there in a Jiff'(tm)!" Then there was another flash of movement and he was gone.
Nick turned to Veronica. "Don't freak out...we need to have a private discussion. Shit!" He rushed forward to catch her as her vision darkened and...
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...she woke up laying down on a small bed...a cot, she realized as she examined it. Someone was holding her hand...
"You're awake," Nick said as he leaned forward. "I've been trying to give you back your energy, but it's not working."
"What...did you do to me?" She pulled her hand from his and then raised herself up onto her elbows. It looked like they were still in the school, she figured the nurse's office.
He sat back on his chair. "Well, a couple of things...saved our lives, for one..."
"Thank you."
"Heh...um, you're welcome." Nick looked uncomfortable. "The second thing I'm not sure about...I have to talk to my Dad, but it seems like I took something from you when I stopped that guy."
Veronica took stock of herself. She did feel odd, somehow incomplete. "What did you do to him?"
Now he looked even more uncomfortable. "Err...well...I made him cum in his pants...like, a lot."
"You what?!"
"Shh! Shh! The cops are right outside and they want to talk to you about what happened. PLEASE just say that The Jiff stopped the shooter, and not anything else? I'll explain everything when we're back at home, but this is literally a matter of life and death for my family."
She saw how serious Nick was being, so just nodded.
He nodded back. "You okay to talk to the police now?"
"Yeah."
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When they got back to the Lovewright house, Veronica was still feeling run down, though she was able to walk unaided. She went to the guest room to lie down while Nick called his Dad, who was out of town for the duration of her stay.
