Short Change: Heroes with Oddly Specific Powers Read online

  “Sit down,” Simon said. “We’ll be there soon enough.”

  Simon sat next to Miles, with his eyes closed. Miles thought he’d fallen asleep, but that notion was mistaken. He did sit back down though. His nerves were getting to him, like bolts of lightning that made his hands sweat and tingle. He couldn’t make heads or tails on whether or not it was a good feeling or a bad one.

  It happened so quickly that Miles felt like he was on the ride of something much larger and more complicated than he was. People all around him held serious eccentricities and hidden motivations, and that wasn’t even the half of it. Miles was the kind of person that … everybody laughed at because he made a fart joke in elementary school. He was the comic relief. Definitely not a hero. It was all happening … just a little too fast.

  “Don’t worry, my boy. You’ll see it through.”

  “I don’t know, Simon. I’m starting to get chills.”

  “There comes a time in every young man’s life where he must grow up. For you, that time is now.”

  “I just …” Miles started with a pause. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish I didn’t have to do it.”

  “Do you have your things?” Simon asked.

  Miles reached down by his feet and grabbed hold of his backpack. He unzipped the main compartment and ruffled around his hands to feel for the rolls of coins. Yep. All there.

  “Everything’s accounted for. Sixty euros in change.”

  “Good.”

  “Simon, I … I don’t want to …”

  “Listen, boy,” he said. “What makes a man is not what he wishes, but what he does. If you really don’t want to take his life, then find a way … but don’t run from it.”

  Simon never struck him as the philosophical type, but the words brought a bit of warmth to the tingled chills that ran through his body.

  “All right. I will.”

  “A word of caution. If you fail, then my head will be next on the chopping block, so try to keep that in mind.”

  “I’ll try to remember, Simon.”

  Chapter 13

  Into the Furnace

  Paris, France

  Miles stood several meters away from Savage Steel itself, a newly constructed steel mill in the center of Paris. It was a towering goliath built with sturdy plates of thick metal. It had a shape that felt like something different from the rest of France. It was three stories high, and though he could see a good deal of windows, there didn’t appear to be anyone inside. Apart from armed guards patrolling the exterior of the facility, the place was quiet.

  Miles didn’t see an ad in the paper for anything about a press conference. The thought that they might have been chasing a phantom made his stomach rattle just a bit. But the place looked operational. There was smoke coming from the stacks up top, so somebody was inside for sure.

  “Testing. One. Two. Three. Come in, Simon.”

  “I can hear you just fine, my boy. How does it look?”

  Miles had a good view from where he was standing.

  “The front gates are guarded. I could handle them.”

  “You don’t need to make a ruckus yet,” Simon said. “How about the scenic route?”

  “Give me a minute,” Miles replied. He broke into a light jog over to another vantage point. There was a clear spot alongside the steel mill. Still, he wanted to make sure. Once he got there, he said, “They’ve pretty much left the west side alone. There’s a third story window left open.”

  “Can you climb it?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  “Good,” Simon answered. “Let me know when you’re inside.”

  Course, climbing was out of the question, but Miles had a trick up his sleeve that he desperately wanted to try. He took off his backpack and unzipped the main compartment, pulling out a roll of American pennies. He ripped open the roll and poured the contents into his hand, pushing them into a geometric design. Two circles made entirely of pennies. With his concentration, he lowered them to just a few centimeters above the ground and promptly set one foot on each platform.

  Now, the next part was tricky. It was going to be like climbing stairs. He took one foot off and while doing so, shifted the untouched platform up and over just before his foot landed on it. Success! That wasn’t difficult at all. It was strange, but ever since the warehouse incident, it was as if his powers have been growing exponentially.

  Miles hastily made his way up to the third story window of the Savage Steel building. With each step, it became easier to control the sets of coins. Blocking bullets was nice, but this took the cake.

  “I’m in,” he said after climbing through the space. He glanced out of the window. Didn’t look like anybody took notice. There weren’t that many people walking about this time of day anyway.

  “I’m looking at the building now, Short Change,” Simon said. Heh, he used the code name. “There are two resonance users present.”

  “The heck? Two?”

  “One is on the roof, but the one you want is standing in the atrium on ground level.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He’s the only one whose net worth is over one billion.”

  Fair enough.

  “Wow,” Miles exclaimed. “I guess your power does come in handy.”

  “One more thing.”

  “Oh yeah?” Miles asked. “What’s that?”

  “Adamson is accompanied by a unit of armed soldiers on the second level of the atrium.”

  “It’s a trap?”

  “Too little can be said about our friend to be sure,” Simon explained. “Did he sound genuine?”

  “Of course,” Miles replied.

  “He could have sent us into an ambush without Adamson present. Let’s believe for the time being that his intentions are noble enough.”

  Again, fair enough. Miles made his way down the halls of the third floor. It was very quiet, but from deep inside, he could hear something like the pumping and pounding of blood. It was the heart of Savage Steel. He shook off the fear as best as he could. Somehow, this was going to end the right way. He just didn’t know how.

  Chapter 14

  Iron Giant

  Paris, France

  Miles set his feet on a pedestal of coins and he lowered himself down to the floor of the Savage Steel atrium. He stood still, surrounded by an oscillating shield of coins. Triple layered, this time. Nothing left to the chance of a stray bullet. Through the debris, he could see a person dressed in a ritzy black suit whose back was turned. His posture was a bit slouched, lazy even.

  “You can stop that, Miles,” he said. “Or do you go by Short Change now?”

  “I didn’t come here to fight you, sir. I came here to talk.”

  “Oh, really now?” he said. “I’m not convinced.”

  The man turned around, revealing himself to be none other than the CEO of Savage Steel. Miles recognized him from a photo in his application form, but to see the guy in person … it was something of a shock.

  “It’s true,” Miles exclaimed. “I want you to call off your goons or assassins or whatever you call ‘em.”

  “You know it doesn’t work that way,” he replied.

  “Look, I don’t care about the way you run your company or what you do behind closed doors. Fact of the matter is that whatever I saw … I don’t think anybody would believe me … so I’m asking you to leave my life alone!”

  The CEO paused and crossed his arms. He was looking up, like he was lost in thought, but it wasn’t much longer before his eyes leveled back down with a stare directed solely at Miles.

  “I sincerely believe you.”

  “Then stop this!”

  “I would have. If you’d have just ran off, I probably would have ignored you.”

  “The heck?”

  “But two things complicated the situation, Miles. The first was you developing a resonance.”

  �
��You got to be …”

  “And the second was that you CHOSE to confront me.”

  Miles put up his guard. His goons must have been hiding, waiting for the opportune chance to strike. But why haven’t they yet? What was taking them so long?

  “So, the answer’s no.”

  “Your very existence and nature makes you a threat to my world, Miles. You can only exist in two places … beneath my heel or beneath the ground.”

  “Allow me to ‘change’ your mind.”

  Simon could feel the presence of his third roll of pennies. He drew out the charge and formed them into a small meteor. Like an energy blast of metal bits, he hurled it at the CEO, not nearly enough to kill him, but enough to crack a rib or two. The shot flew faster than he expected, zipping through the air. It was much more difficult to maneuver a lump sum than a single coin.

  But what surprised him was that the CEO blocked it with his arms. The sheer force would shatter them in an instant. Miles pushed on anyway, sending his foe flying against the steel wall of the atrium before he gathered back the coins and added them to his shield. Miles started making his way across, but Richard lowered his guard.

  “Was … that … a …?” the CEO began before Miles cut him off.

  “Pun? You betcha!”

  “Insufferable,” Richard replied.

  He fixed the placement of his tie with what still were two fully functional arms. Strange. That shouldn’t have happened. Miles needed to assess the situation. Simon did say that this one was a resonance user, but what exactly his was tied to was unclear. Invulnerability? Could somebody even do that?

  “You look surprised,” he said.

  Well, “A little.”

  “Impressive, though. If you’d have hit with killing force, you might have actually harmed me.”

  “Oh, this won’t be fun.”

  “Men, shoot him dead.”

  With the wag of his finger, a hail of gunfire brought itself upon Miles. His shield was taking a beating with each bullet. As the bullets hit each penny, they soon became unusable, and it took some quick thinking to switch them out. It was like thinking at the speed of light. It was like instinct to angle each coin just so much so to minimize the damage and still keep the rounds from clipping him.

  After a deafening barrage that lasted several seconds, the rounds ran dry. Miles stood with his shield up, but nearly half of what used to make it up was unusable. Pennies and pesos laid themselves out on the floor, shot to death and bent to heck from the bullets.

  “Is that all?” Miles said.

  “Wonderful, Miles. Just wonderful,” Richard replied, clapping his hands. “Metallomancers really are the strongest.”

  “Metallo … what?”

  “But there is a clear difference in the gulf between our powers!”

  Richard grabbed hold of his suit and ripped it off. He clawed open every seam until there was nothing left to hide his true form. It was a body completely covered in thick iron plating. The suit itself had to weigh at least a hundred kilograms, and there was probably more on his legs as well. Miles was somewhat surprised he never noticed during the fight.

  “So you can bench press a few hundred kilos,” Miles chuckled. “So what?”

  “You didn’t notice anything strange about the bullets my subordinates fired?”

  For the love of Pete! This guy needed to quit the speeches.

  “Should I have?”

  “They’re a special type of ammunition. High density rounds made of … pure iron.”

  Miles noticed a slight rumbling in the area as the floor began to shake, and the walls themselves vibrated with a terrible force. It was like an earthquake, localized in one building. He didn’t let his guard down, not for a second. The bullet fragments scattered across the floor slid towards the CEO and flew onto his face and his body. The fragmented bits of at least a thousand rounds covered Richard’s body with an extra thick helping of iron. Miles couldn’t even see his face anymore. It was like staring at a golem, something dark and terrifying … something other than human.

  “I am the Iron Giant!” he shouted. “Quake in my footsteps! Shatter beneath my heel!”

  Chapter 15

  Life’s Too Short

  Paris, France

  Richard came at him, dashing across the atrium with a ball of thick iron scraps wrapped around his fist. Miles braced for the impact, casting a solid wall of change, but the force of Richard’s punch was too fierce. It ripped through his defenses and drove a gaping opening straight through. Miles barely caught a second to spare as the giant planted its fist into his chest. Miles flew across the atrium and right through shattered glass. Quickly, he collected himself, but the damage was severe and his adrenaline was kicking in so much that he had no clue exactly what was broken.

  Richard stepped over the glass and made his way into … this was the place where they made iron into steel. Yeah, that was about it. Miles was standing on the balcony, but below him and behind was a deep valley full of active pots of molten iron. Smoke stacks were nestled on the lower edges, which led up to the very top. Scraps of iron and carbon were scattered everywhere, and if this was how powerful he was with a few shells …

  “You’ve finally realized,” Richard said. “You aren’t leaving this place alive.”

  “Don’t sell me short!” Miles exclaimed.

  “Your jokes are poor taste, Miles.”

  “Then I suggest you pick up the peso.”

  “That’s it!” Richard screamed. “I’ve had it!”

  The iron shards from deep inside the facility began to tremble as they all gravitated towards the iron giant. From deep inside the dark corners of his own mind, Miles felt real fear. It was something he’d pushed back and aside many times before, but at this moment … as the whole factory shook in the presence of the Iron Giant … his whole body trembled as well.

  But a completely separate feeling crept up in small increments. Miles didn’t fully comprehend the thought completely, but was still there. It said something like … the time to be a clown was over. This one needed to go … because whatever he was … he was no longer human … he was a danger to the world.

  A thick assortment of compacted iron scrap enveloped Richard Adamson, fully transforming him into a massive metal golem. Miles could no longer see his eyes. They vanished into the mess of a towering goliath. As they both stood on the balcony, the giant tilted his head down on Miles.

  “Are you ready, human?”

  “Awfully bold, aren’t we?” Miles replied.

  There was a lump stuck in his throat though, and it wasn’t going away. By his counts, he’d used up nearly half of his coins, and that armor wasn’t going to make things any easier. A vulnerable area necessarily existed on something that big. Somewhere, a crack lurked … an opening. He just needed to look for it.

  Miles jumped back just as the giant struck with a deadly force that ripped open the balcony. He caught himself on a coin bed and readied for the next attack. With ten dollars in pennies, he shot a meteor bolt at the giant with maximum strength, but to little effect, other than knocking him back few feet. Richard collected himself and prepared to charge again. Not good. Not good at all. Miles shot the same bolt again, but this time, Richard deflected it with his arm.

  It wasn’t as powerful the second time around … and it would be nice to assume that the beast was learning, but the truth of the matter was that each coin he hurled at Richard deformed itself just a bit. He was losing control with each strike, no thanks to the material and coarseness of Richard’s iron armor.

  The Iron Giant struck again, but this time, he was too close. Miles didn’t have enough time to move, so he pushed himself back with hasty pesos. His feet slid across the ground as he narrowly dodged a blow that tore the ground where he stood.

  Miles shot one to where the eyes used to be, but to no avail. The holes were too small to fit even a penny inside. He
pegged two more into the joints, where the inside of the elbow and the back of the knee were, but the armor plating was too compact even there. It was as if Richard was able to move without restrictions, as if the armor weighed nothing.

  “For one whose resonance is currency, you appear rather wasteful,” Richard said. “Why not use the coins from before?” Miles stood silent. Like heck if he was going to let the cat out of the bag. “Or is it that you cannot?” Richard let a bit of iron fall off, revealing a human hand as he picked up a bent penny. “I wonder what it is that stops you from using this one.” Miles stood still. “You’re not a true metallomancer, are you?” Richard said. “Your resonance is tied to shape as much as material.”

  “What do you care?”

  “You are good at running, Miles, but for how long? How much is left in the back pack of yours?”

  “None of your business,” Miles snapped.

  If he’d been counting correctly, probably less than thirty euros though. A good portion was sacrificed deflecting the bullets, and at least five to ten euros worth took their final flights against the Iron Giant.

  “Good. That means you’re running low. Let’s finish this.”

  Miles surveyed his surroundings. He wasn’t going to win on brute force, but maybe there was another avenue. An idea popped into his head. It was a gamble, but the odds were better than facing off with that titan. He took a few steps back as Richard readied a killing charge. The timing needed perfection.

  Richard bored down the aisle at break neck speed, shaking the ground with each footstep up until he finally reached Miles. With tremendous speed, he swung his iron fist, and it slammed into a wall of something else.

  “What’s this?” Richard exclaimed.

  Miles rose up on the footholds of his last legs of pennies, but below him stood a wall of his secret surprise. Two rolls of quarters, the thickest bunch he could find and layered around the size of a fist. It was enough to stop him for the moment. That was about it though. Miles could only feel the presence of two rolls of pennies shuffling around in his backpack. He navigated over to a suspended beam that hovered over a vat of molten iron. He just hoped that Richard would take the bait and sure enough, the beast came climbing up. Richard clawed his way to the top until he stood safely on the edge of the beam.